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Chapter 4 Individual Attitudes and Behaviors

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

1. Identify the major work attitudes that affect work behaviors.

2. List the key set of behaviors that matter for organizational performance.

3. Understand the link between work attitudes and ethics.

4. Understand cross-cultural differences in job attitudes and behaviors at work.

People Come First at SAS Institute Who are your best customers? Which customers are bringing you the most

profits and which are the least profitable? Companies are increasingly relying

on complicated data mining software to answer these and other questions.

More than 90% of the top 100 companies on the Fortune Global 500 list are

using software developed by SAS Institute Inc. for their business intelligence

and analytics needs. The Cary, North Carolina, company is doing extremely

well by any measure. They are the biggest privately owned software company

in the world. They have over 10,000 employees worldwide, operate in over

100 countries, and reported $2.15 billion in revenue in 2007 (their 31st

consecutive year of growth and profitability). The company is quick to

attribute their success to the performance and loyalty of its workforce. This is

directly correlated with how they treat their employees.

SAS has perfected the art of employee management. It has been ranked

on Fortune Magazine’s best places to work list every year since the list was first

published. Employees seem to genuinely enjoy working at SAS and are

unusually attached to the company, resulting in a turnover rate that is less

than 5% in an industry where 20% is the norm. In fact, when Google designed

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its own legendary campus in California, they visited the SAS campus to get

ideas.

One thing SAS does well is giving its employees opportunities to work on

interesting and challenging projects. The software developers have the

opportunity to create cutting-edge software to be used around the world. The

company makes an effort to concentrate its business in the areas of analytics,

which add the most value and help organizations best analyze disparate data

for decision making, creating opportunities for SAS workers to be challenged.

Plus, the company removes obstacles for employees. Equipment, policies,

rules, and meetings that could impede productivity are eliminated.

The company has a reputation as a pioneer when it comes to the perks it offers

employees, but these perks are not given with a mentality of “offer everything

but the kitchen sink.” There is careful thinking and planning behind the choice

of perks the company offers. SAS conducts regular employee satisfaction

surveys, and any future benefits and perks offered are planned in response to

the results. The company wants to eliminate stressors and dissatisfiers from

people’s lives. To keep employees healthy and fit, there are athletic fields, a

full gym and swimming pool, and tennis, basketball, and racquetball courts on

campus. Plus, the company offers free onsite health care for employees and

covered dependents at their fully staffed primary medical care center, and

unlimited sick leave. The company understands that employees have a life and

encourages employees to work reasonable hours and then go home to their

families. In fact, a famous motto in the company is, “If you are working for

more than 8 hours, you are just adding bugs.” SAS is truly one of the industry

leaders in leveraging its treatment of people for continued business success.

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Sources: Based on information from Anonymous. (2007, December 1). Doing

well by being rather nice. Economist, 385(8557), 84; Cakebread, C. (2005,

July). SAS…not SOS. Benefits Canada, 29(7), 18; Florida, R., & Goodnight, J.

(2005, July–August). Managing for creativity. Harvard Business

Review, 83(7/8), 124–131; Karlgaard, R. (2006, October 16). Who wants to be

public? Forbes Asia, 2(17), 22.

4.1 Work Attitudes

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Define “work attitudes”.

2. Describe the relationship between attitudes and behaviors.

3. Define and differentiate between job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

4. List the factors related to job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

5. Describe the consequences of job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

6. Identify the ways in which companies can track work attitudes in the workplace.

Our behavior at work often depends on how we feel about being there.

Therefore, making sense of how people behave depends on understanding

their work attitudes. An attitude refers to our opinions, beliefs, and feelings

about aspects of our environment. We have attitudes toward the food we eat,

people we interact with, courses we take, and various other things. At work,

two particular job attitudes have the greatest potential to influence how we

behave. These are job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Job satisfaction refers to the feelings people have toward their job. If the

number of studies conducted on job satisfaction is an indicator, job

satisfaction is probably the most important job attitude. Institutions such as

Gallup Inc. or the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM)

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periodically conduct studies of job satisfaction to track how satisfied

employees are at work. According to a recent Gallup survey, 90% of the

employees surveyed said that they were at least somewhat satisfied with their

jobs. The recent SHRM study revealed 40% who were very satisfied. [1]

Organizational commitment is the emotional attachment people have toward

the company they work for. There is a high degree of overlap between job

satisfaction and organizational commitment, because things that make us

happy with our job often make us more committed to the company as well.

Companies believe that these attitudes are worth tracking because they are

often associated with important outcomes such as performance, helping

others, absenteeism, and turnover.

How strong is the attitude-behavior link? First of all, it depends on the

attitude in question. Your attitudes toward your colleagues may influence

whether you actually help them on a project, but they may not be a good

predictor of whether you will quit your job. Second, it is worth noting that

attitudes are more strongly related to intentions to behave in a certain way,

rather than actual behaviors. When you are dissatisfied with your job, you may

have the intention to leave. Whether you will actually leave is a different story!

Your leaving will depend on many factors, such as availability of alternative

jobs in the market, your employability in a different company, and sacrifices

you have to make while changing jobs. In other words, while attitudes give us

hints about how a person might behave, it is important to remember that

behavior is also strongly influenced by situational constraints.

OB Toolbox: How Can You Be Happier at Work?  Have a positive attitude about it. Your personality is a big part of your

happiness. If you are always looking for the negative side of everything, you

will find it.

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 A good fit with the job and company is important to your happiness. This

starts with knowing yourself: What do you want from the job? What do you

enjoy doing? Be honest with yourself and do a self-assessment.

 Get accurate information about the job and the company. Ask detailed

questions about what life is like in this company. Do your research: Read

about the company, and use your social network to understand the company’s

culture.

 Develop good relationships at work. Make friends. Try to get a mentor.

Approach a person you admire and attempt to build a relationship with this

person. An experienced mentor can be a great help in navigating life at a

company. Your social network can help you weather the bad days and provide

you emotional and instrumental support during your time at the company as

well as afterward.

 Pay is important, but job characteristics matter more to your job

satisfaction. Don’t sacrifice the job itself for a little bit more money. When

choosing a job, look at the level of challenge, and the potential of the job to

make you engaged.

 Be proactive in managing organizational life. If the job is stressful, cope with

it by effective time management and having a good social network, as well as

being proactive in getting to the source of stress. If you don’t have enough

direction, ask for it!

 Know when to leave. If the job makes you unhappy over an extended period of

time and there is little hope of solving the problems, it may be time to look

elsewhere.

What Causes Positive Work Attitudes?

What makes you satisfied with your job and develop commitment to your

company? Research shows that people pay attention to several aspects of their

work environment, including how they are treated, the relationships they form

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with colleagues and managers, and the actual work they perform. We will now

summarize the factors that show consistent relations with job satisfaction and

organizational commitment.

Figure 4.2 Factors Contributing to Job Satisfaction and Organizational

Commitment

Personality

Can assessing the work environment fully explain how satisfied we are on the

job? Interestingly, some experts have shown that job satisfaction is not purely

environmental and is partially due to our personality. Some people have a

disposition to be happy in life and at work regardless of environmental factors.

It seems that people who have a positive affective disposition (those who have

a tendency to experience positive moods more often than negative moods)

tend to be more satisfied with their jobs and more committed to their

companies, while those who have a negative disposition tend to be less

satisfied and less committed. [2]

This is not surprising, as people who are

determined to see the glass as half full will notice the good things in their work

environment, while those with the opposite character will find more things to

complain about. In addition to our affective disposition, people who have a

neurotic personality (those who are moody, temperamental, critical of

themselves and others) are less satisfied with their job, while those who are

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emotionally more stable tend to be more satisfied. Other traits such as

conscientiousness, self-esteem, locus of control, and extraversion are also

related to positive work attitudes. [3]

Either these people are more successful in

finding jobs and companies that will make them happy and build better

relationships at work, which would increase their satisfaction and

commitment, or they simply see their environment as more positive—

whichever the case, it seems that personality is related to work attitudes.

Person–Environment Fit

The fit between what we bring to our work environment and the

environmental demands influences our work attitudes. Therefore, person–job

fit and person–organization fit are positively related to job satisfaction and

commitment. When our abilities match job demands and our values match

company values, we tend to be more satisfied with our job and more

committed to the company we work for. [4]

Job Characteristics

The presence of certain characteristics on the job seems to make employees

more satisfied and more committed. Using a variety of skills, having autonomy

at work, receiving feedback on the job, and performing a significant task are

some job characteristics that are related to satisfaction and commitment.

However, the presence of these factors is not important for everyone. Some

people have a high growth need. They expect their jobs to help them build new

skills and improve as an employee. These people tend to be more satisfied

when their jobs have these characteristics. [5]

Psychological Contract

After accepting a job, people come to work with a set of expectations. They

have an understanding of their responsibilities and rights. In other words,

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they have a psychological contract with the company. A psychological contract

is an unwritten understanding about what the employee will bring to the work

environment and what the company will provide in exchange. When people do

not get what they expect, they experience a psychological contract breach,

which leads to low job satisfaction and commitment. Imagine that you were

told before being hired that the company was family friendly and collegial.

However, after a while, you realize that they expect employees to work 70

hours a week, and employees are aggressive toward each other. You are likely

to experience a breach in your psychological contract and be dissatisfied. One

way of preventing such problems is for companies to provide realistic job

previews to their employees. [6]

Organizational Justice

A strong influence over our satisfaction level is how fairly we are treated.

People pay attention to the fairness of company policies and procedures,

treatment from supervisors, and pay and other rewards they receive from the

company. [7]

Relationships at Work

Two strong predictors of our happiness at work and commitment to the

company are our relationships with coworkers and managers. The people we

interact with, their degree of compassion, our level of social acceptance in our

work group, and whether we are treated with respect are all important factors

surrounding our happiness at work. Research also shows that our relationship

with our manager, how considerate the manager is, and whether we build a

trust-based relationship with our manager are critically important to our job

satisfaction and organizational commitment. [8]

When our manager and upper

management listen to us, care about us, and value our opinions, we tend to

feel good at work. Even small actions may show employees that the

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management cares about them. For example, Hotel Carlton in San Francisco

was recently taken over by a new management group. One of the small things

the new management did created dramatic results. In response to an employee

attitude survey, they replaced the old vacuum cleaners housekeepers were

using and established a policy of replacing them every year. This simple act of

listening to employee problems and taking action went a long way to making

employees feel that the management cares about them. [9]

Stress

Not surprisingly, the amount of stress present in our job is related to our

satisfaction and commitment. For example, experiencing role ambiguity

(vagueness in relation to what our responsibilities are), role conflict (facing

contradictory demands at work), and organizational politics, and worrying

about the security of our job are all stressors that make people dissatisfied. On

the other hand, not all stress is bad. Some stressors actually make us happier!

For example, working under time pressure and having a high degree of

responsibility are stressful, but they can also be perceived as challenges and

tend to be related to high levels of satisfaction. [10]

Work–Life Balance

In the 1950s, people’s work was all-consuming. Employees went to work,

worked long hours, and the rest of the family accepted that work came first. As

society changed, the concept of always putting work first became outdated. In

modern times, more employees expect to lead balanced lives, pursue hobbies,

and spend more time with their children while at the same time continuing to

succeed at work. The notion of work–family conflict is one cause of job

dissatisfaction. This conflict can be particularly strong for women because of

the time necessary for pregnancy and giving birth, but men struggle with it as

well. When work life interferes with family life, we are more stressed and

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unhappy with our jobs. Research shows that policies that help employees

achieve a balance between their work and personal lives, such as allowing

telecommuting, are related to higher job satisfaction. For example, the

medical resources group of the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca

International does not have fixed working hours, and employees can work any

hours they choose. Motorola’s technological acceleration group also has

flexible hours and can work from anywhere (home, office, or a coffee shop) at

anytime. [11]

Consequences of Positive Work Attitudes

Why do we care about the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of

employees? What behaviors would you expect to see from someone who has

more positive work attitudes?

If you say “higher performance,” you have stumbled upon one of the most

controversial subjects in organizational behavior. Many studies have been

devoted to understanding whether happy employees are more productive.

Some studies show weak correlations between satisfaction and performance

while others show higher correlations (what researchers would call “medium-

sized” correlations of 0.30). [12]

The correlation between commitment and

performance tends to be even weaker. [13]

Even with a correlation of 0.30

though, the relationship may be lower than you may have expected. Why is

this so?

It seems that happy workers have an inclination to be more engaged at work.

They may want to perform better. They may be more motivated. But there are

also exceptions. Think about this: Just because you want to perform, will you

actually be a higher performer? Chances are that your skill level in performing

the job will matter. There are also some jobs where performance depends on

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factors beyond an employee’s control, such as the pace of the machine they are

working on. Because of this reason, in professional jobs such as engineering

and research, we see a higher link between work attitudes and performance, as

opposed to manual jobs such as assembly line work. [14]

Also, think about the

alternative possibility: If you don’t like your job, does this mean that you will

reduce your performance? Maybe up to a certain point, but there will be

factors that prevent you from reducing your performance: the fear of getting

fired, the desire to get a promotion so that you can get out of the job that you

dislike so much, or your professional work ethic. As a result, we should not

expect a one-to-one relationship between satisfaction and performance. Still,

the observed correlation between work attitudes and performance is

important and has practical value.

Work attitudes are even more strongly related to organizational citizenship

behaviors (behaviors that are not part of our job but are valuable to the

organization, such as helping new employees or working voluntary overtime).

Satisfied and committed people are absent less frequently and for shorter

duration, are likely to stay with a company longer, and demonstrate less

aggression at work. Just as important, people who are happy at work are

happier with their lives overall. Given that we spend so much of our waking

hours at work, it is no surprise that our satisfaction with our job is a big part of

how satisfied we feel about life in general. [15]

Finally, a satisfied workforce

seems to be related to positive firm-level outcomes, such as customer

satisfaction and loyalty, profitability, and safety in the workplace. [16]

Assessing Work Attitudes in the Workplace

Given that work attitudes may give us clues as to who will leave or stay, who

will perform better, and who will be more engaged, tracking satisfaction and

commitment levels is a helpful step for companies. If there are companywide

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issues that make employees unhappy and disengaged, then these issues need

to be resolved. There are at least two systematic ways in which companies can

track work attitudes: through attitude surveys and exit interviews. Companies

such as KFC Corporation and Long John Silver’s Inc. restaurants, the SAS

Institute, Google, and others give periodic surveys to employees to track their

work attitudes. Companies can get more out of these surveys if responses are

held confidential. If employees become concerned that their individual

responses will be shared with their immediate manager, they are less likely to

respond honestly. Moreover, the success of these surveys depends on the

credibility of management in the eyes of employees. If management

periodically collects these surveys but no action comes out of them, employees

may adopt a more cynical attitude and start ignoring these surveys, hampering

the success of future efforts.

An exit interview involves a meeting with the departing employee. This

meeting is often conducted by a member of the human resource management

department. The departing employee’s manager is the worst person to conduct

the interview, because managers are often one of the primary reasons an

employee is leaving in the first place. If conducted well, this meeting may

reveal what makes employees dissatisfied at work and give management clues

about areas for improvement.

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Work attitudes are the feelings we have toward different aspects of the work

environment. Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are two key attitudes

that are the most relevant to important outcomes. Attitudes create an intention to

behave in a certain way and may predict actual behavior under certain conditions.

People develop positive work attitudes as a result of their personality, fit with their

environment, stress levels they experience, relationships they develop, perceived

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fairness of their pay, company policies, interpersonal treatment, whether their

psychological contract is violated, and the presence of policies addressing work–life

conflict. When people have more positive work attitudes, they may have the

inclination to perform better, display citizenship behaviors, and be absent less often

and for shorter periods of time, and they are less likely to quit their jobs within a

short period of time. When workplace attitudes are more positive, companies

benefit in the form of higher safety and better customer service, as well as higher

company performance.

E X E R C I S E S

1. What is the difference between job satisfaction and organizational commitment?

Which do you think would be more strongly related to performance? Which would

be more strongly related to turnover?

2. Do you think making employees happier at work is a good way of motivating people?

When would high satisfaction not be related to high performance?

3. In your opinion, what are the three most important factors that make people

dissatisfied with their job? What are the three most important factors relating to

organizational commitment?

4. How important is pay in making people attached to a company and making

employees satisfied?

5. Do you think younger and older people are similar in what makes them happier at

work and committed to their companies? Do you think there are male–female

differences? Explain your answers.

4.2 Work Behaviors

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Define job performance, organizational citizenship, absenteeism, and turnover.

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2. Explain factors associated with each type of work behavior.

One of the important objectives of the field of organizational behavior is to

understand why people behave the way they do. Which behaviors are we

referring to here? We will focus on four key work behaviors: job performance,

organizational citizenship behaviors, absenteeism, and turnover. These are not

the only behaviors OB is concerned about, but understanding what is meant

by these terms and understanding the major influences over each type of

behavior will give you more clarity about analyzing the behaviors of others in

the workplace. We summarize the major research findings about the causes of

each type of behavior in the following figure.

Figure 4.4

Summary of Factors That Have the Strongest Influence Over Work Behaviors. Note:

Negative relationships are indicated with (–).

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Job Performance

Job performance, or in-role performance, refers to the performance level on

factors included in the job description. For each job, the content of job

performance may differ. Measures of job performance include the quality and

quantity of work performed by the employee, the accuracy and speed with

which the job is performed, and the overall effectiveness of the person

performing the job. In many companies, job performance determines whether

a person is promoted, rewarded with pay raises, given additional

responsibilities, or fired from the job. Therefore, job performance is tracked

and observed in many organizations and is one of the main outcomes studied

in the field of organizational behavior.

What Are the Major Predictors of Job Performance?

Under which conditions do people perform well, and what are the

characteristics of high performers? These questions received a lot of research

attention. It seems that the most powerful influence over our job performance

is our general mental ability, or cognitive abilities. Our reasoning abilities,

verbal and numerical skills, analytical skills, and overall intelligence level

seems to be important across most situations. It seems that general mental

ability starts influencing us early in life; it is strongly correlated with measures

of academic success. [1]

As we grow and mature, cognitive ability is also

correlated with different measures of job performance. [2]

General mental

ability is important for job performance across different settings, but there is

also variation. In jobs with high complexity, it is much more critical to have

high general mental abilities. In jobs such as working in sales, management,

engineering, or other professional areas, this ability is much more important,

whereas for jobs involving manual labor or clerical work, the importance of

high mental abilities for high performance is weaker (yet still important). How

we are treated within an organization is another factor determining our

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performance level. When we feel that we are being treated fairly by a company,

have a good relationship with our manager, have a manager who is supportive

and rewards high performance, and we trust the people we work with, we tend

to perform better. Why? It seems that when we are treated well, we want to

reciprocate. Therefore, when we are treated well, we treat the company well by

performing our job more effectively. [3]

Following the quality of treatment, the stress we experience determines our

performance level. When we experience high levels of stress, our mental

energies are drained. Instead of focusing on the task at hand, we start

concentrating on the stressor and become distracted trying to cope with it.

Because our attention and energies are diverted to deal with stress, our

performance suffers. Having role ambiguity and experiencing conflicting role

demands are related to lower performance. [4]

Stress that prevents us from

doing our jobs does not have to be related to our experiences at work. For

example, according to a survey conducted by Workplace Options, 45% of the

respondents said that financial stress affects work performance. When people

are in debt, are constantly worrying about mortgage or tuition payments, or

are having trouble paying for essentials such as gas and food, their

performance will suffer. [5]

Our work attitudes, specifically job satisfaction, are moderate correlates of job

performance. When we are satisfied with the job, we may perform better. This

relationship seems to exist in jobs with greater levels of complexity and

weakens in simpler and less complicated jobs. It is possible that in less

complex jobs, our performance depends more on the machinery we work with

or organizational rules and regulations. In other words, people may have less

leeway to reduce performance in these jobs. Also, in some jobs people do not

reduce their performance even when dissatisfied. For example, among nurses

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there seems to be a weak correlation between satisfaction and performance.

Even when they are unhappy, nurses put substantial effort into their work,

likely because they feel a moral obligation to help their patients. [6]

Finally, job performance has a modest relationship with personality,

particularly conscientiousness. People who are organized, reliable,

dependable, and achievement-oriented seem to outperform others in various

contexts. [7]

Organizational Citizenship Behaviors

While job performance refers to the performance of duties listed in one’s job

description, organizational citizenship behaviors involve performing behaviors

that are more discretionary. Organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) are

voluntary behaviors employees perform to help others and benefit the

organization. Helping a new coworker understand how things work in your

company, volunteering to organize the company picnic, and providing

suggestions to management about how to improve business processes are

some examples of citizenship behaviors. These behaviors contribute to the

smooth operation of business.

What are the major predictors of citizenship behaviors? Unlike performance,

citizenship behaviors do not depend so much on one’s abilities. Job

performance, to a large extent, depends on our general mental abilities. When

you add the education, skills, knowledge, and abilities that are needed to

perform well, the role of motivation in performance becomes more limited. As

a result, someone being motivated will not necessarily translate into a person

performing well. For citizenship behaviors, the motivation-behavior link is

clearer. We help others around us if we feel motivated to do so.

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Perhaps the most important factor explaining our citizenship behaviors is how

we are treated by the people around us. When we have a good relationship

with our manager and we are supported by management staff, when we are

treated fairly, when we are attached to our peers, and when we trust the

people around us, we are more likely to engage in citizenship behaviors. A

high-quality relationship with people we work with will mean that simply

doing our job will not be enough to maintain the relationship. In a high-

quality relationship, we feel the obligation to reciprocate and do extra things

to help those around us. [8]

Our personality is yet another explanation for why we perform citizenship

behaviors. Personality is a modest predictor of actual job performance but a

much better predictor of citizenship. People who are conscientious, agreeable,

and have positive affectivity tend to perform citizenship behaviors more often

than others. [9]

Job attitudes are also moderately related to citizenship behaviors. People who

are happier at work, those who are more committed to their companies, and

those who have overall positive attitudes toward their work situation tend to

perform citizenship behaviors more often than others. When people are

unhappy, they tend to be disengaged from their jobs and rarely go beyond the

minimum that is expected of them. [10]

Interestingly, age seems to be related to the frequency with which we

demonstrate citizenship behaviors. People who are older are better citizens. It

is possible that with age, we gain more experiences to share. It becomes easier

to help others because we have more accumulated company and life

experiences to draw from. [11]

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Absenteeism

Absenteeism refers to unscheduled absences from work. Absenteeism is costly

to companies because of its unpredictable nature. When an employee has an

unscheduled absence from work, companies struggle to find replacement

workers at the last minute. This may involve hiring contingent workers, having

other employees work overtime, or scrambling to cover for an absent

coworker. The cost of absenteeism to organizations is estimated at $74 billion.

According to a Mercer LLC human resource consulting study, 15% of the

money spent on payroll is related to absenteeism. [12]

What causes absenteeism? First we need to look at the type of absenteeism.

Some absenteeism is unavoidable and is related to health reasons. For

example, reasons such as lower back pain, migraines, accidents on or off the

job, or acute stress are important reasons for absenteeism. [13]

Health-related

absenteeism is costly, but dealing with such absenteeism by using

organizational policies penalizing absenteeism is both unreasonable and

unfair. A sick employee who shows up at work will infect coworkers and will

not be productive. Instead, companies are finding that programs aimed at

keeping workers healthy are effective in dealing with this type of absenteeism.

Companies using wellness programs that educate employees about proper

nutrition, help them exercise, and reward them for healthy habits are related

to reduced absenteeism. [14]

Work–life balance is another common reason for absences. Staying home to

care for a sick child or relative, attending the wedding of a friend or relative, or

skipping work to study for an exam are all common reasons for unscheduled

absences. Companies may deal with these by giving employees more flexibility

in work hours. If employees can manage their own time, they are less likely to

be absent. Organizations such as Lahey Clinic Foundation Inc. at Burlington,

21

Massachusetts, find that instead of separating sick leave and paid time off,

merging them is effective in dealing with unscheduled absences. When a

company has “sick leave” but no other leave for social and family obligations,

employees may fake being sick and use their “sick leave.” Instead, having a

single paid time off policy would allow workers to balance work and life, and

allow companies to avoid unscheduled absences. Some companies such as

IBM Corporation got rid of sick leave altogether and instead allow employees

to take as much time as they need, as long as their work gets done. [15]

Sometimes, absenteeism is a form of work withdrawal and can lead to

resignation from the job. In other words, poor work attitudes lead to

absenteeism. When employees are dissatisfied with their work or have low

organizational commitment, they are likely to be absent more often. In other

words, absenteeism is caused by the desire to avoid an unpleasant work

environment in addition to related factors such as problems in job design, lack

of organizational justice, extreme levels of stress, and ineffective relations with

coworkers and supervisors. In this case, management may deal with

absenteeism by investigating the causes of dissatisfaction and dealing with

them. [16]

Are there personal factors contributing to absenteeism? Research does not

reveal a consistent link between personality and absenteeism. One

demographic criterion that predicts absenteeism is age. Interestingly, and

counter to the stereotype that increased age would bring more health

problems, research shows that age is negatively related to both frequency and

duration of absenteeism. Because of reasons including higher loyalty to their

company and a stronger work ethic, older employees are less likely be absent

from work. [17]

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OB Toolbox: Dealing with Late Coworkers Do you have team members that are chronically late to group meetings? Are

your coworkers driving you crazy because they are perpetually late? Here are

some suggestions that may help.

 Try to get to the root cause and find out what is making your coworker

unhappy. Often, lateness is an extension of dissatisfaction one feels toward

the job or tasks at hand. If there are ways in which you can solve these issues,

such as by giving the person more responsibility or listening to the opinions of

the person and showing more respect, you can minimize lateness.

 Make sure that lateness does not go without any negative consequences. Do

not ignore it, and do not remain silent. Mention carefully and constructively

that one person’s lateness slows down everyone.

 Make an effort to schedule meetings around everyone’s schedules. When

scheduling, emphasize the importance of everyone’s being there on time and

pick a time when everyone can comfortably attend.

 When people are late, be sure to ask them to compensate, such as by doing

extra work. Negative consequences tend to discourage future lateness.

 Shortly before the meeting starts, send everyone a reminder. Yes, you are

dealing with adults and they should keep their own schedules, but some

people’s schedules may be busier than others, and some are better at keeping

track of their time. Reminders may ensure that they arrive on time.

 Reward timeliness. When everyone shows up on time, verbally recognize the

effort everyone made to be there on time.

 Be on time yourself! Creating a culture of timeliness within your group

requires everyone’s effort, including yours.

Sources: Adapted from information in DeLonzor, D. (2005, November).

Running late. HR Magazine, 50(11), 109–112; Grainge, Z. (2006, November

21). Spotlight on…lateness. Personnel Today, p. 33.

23

Turnover

Turnover refers to an employee leaving an organization. Employee turnover

has potentially harmful consequences, such as poor customer service and poor

companywide performance. When employees leave, their jobs still need to be

performed by someone, so companies spend time recruiting, hiring, and

training new employees, all the while suffering from lower productivity. Yet,

not all turnover is bad. Turnover is particularly a problem when high-

performing employees leave, while a poor performer’s turnover may actually

give the company a chance to improve productivity and morale.

Why do employees leave? An employee’s performance level is an important

reason. People who perform poorly are actually more likely to leave. These

people may be fired or be encouraged to quit, or they may quit because of their

fear of being fired. If a company has pay-for-performance systems, poor

performers will find that they are not earning much, owing to their

substandard performance. This pay discrepancy gives poor performers an

extra incentive to leave. On the other hand, instituting a pay-for-performance

system does not mean that high performers will always stay with a company.

Note that high performers may find it easier to find alternative jobs, so when

they are unhappy, they can afford to quit their jobs voluntarily. [18]

Work attitudes are often the primary culprit in why people leave. When

workers are unhappy at work, and when they are not attached to their

companies, they are more likely to leave. Loving the things they do, being

happy with the opportunities for advancement within the company, and being

happy about pay are all aspects of work attitudes relating to turnover. Of

course, the link between work attitudes and turnover is not direct. When

employees are unhappy, they might have the intention to leave and may start

24

looking for a job, but their ability to actually leave will depend on many factors

such as their employability and the condition of the job market. For this

reason, when national and regional unemployment is high, many people who

are unhappy will still continue to work for their current company. When the

economy is doing well, people will start moving to other companies in

response to being unhappy. Many companies make an effort to keep

employees happy because of an understanding of the connection between

employee happiness and turnover. As illustrated in the opening case, at the

SAS Institute, employees enjoy amenities such as a swimming pool, child care

at work, and a 35-hour workweek. The company’s turnover is around 4%–5%.

This percentage is a stark contrast to the industry average, which is in the

range of 12%–20%. [19]

People are more likely to quit their jobs if they experience stress at work as

well. Stressors such as role conflict and role ambiguity drain energy and

motivate people to seek alternatives. For example, call-center employees

experience a great deal of stress in the form of poor treatment from customers,

long work hours, and constant monitoring of their every action. Companies

such as EchoStar Corporation realize that one method for effectively retaining

their best employees is to give employees opportunities to move to higher

responsibility jobs elsewhere in the company. When a stressful job is a step

toward a more desirable job, employees seem to stick around longer. [20]

There are also individual differences in whether people leave or stay. For

example, personality is a factor in the decision to quit one’s job. People who

are conscientious, agreeable, and emotionally stable are less likely to quit their

jobs. Many explanations are possible. People with these personality traits may

perform better at work, which leads to lower quit rates. Additionally, they may

have better relations with coworkers and managers, which is a factor in their

25

retention. Whatever the reason, it seems that some people are likely to stay

longer at any given job regardless of the circumstances. [21]

Whether we leave a job or stay also depends on our age and how long we have

been there. It seems that younger employees are more likely to leave. This is

not surprising, because people who are younger will have fewer

responsibilities such as supporting a household or dependents. As a result,

they can quit a job they don’t like much more easily. Similarly, people who

have been with a company for a short period of time may quit more easily.

New employees experience a lot of stress at work, and there is usually not

much keeping them in the company, such as established bonds to a manager

or colleagues. New employees may even have ongoing job interviews with

other companies when they start working; therefore, they may leave more

easily. For example, Sprint Nextel Corporation found that many of their new

hires were quitting within 45 days of their hiring dates. When they

investigated, they found that newly hired employees were experiencing a lot of

stress from avoidable problems such as unclear job descriptions or problems

hooking up their computers. Sprint was able to solve the turnover problem by

paying special attention to orienting new hires. [22]

OB Toolbox: Tips for Leaving Your Job Gracefully Few people work in one company forever, and someday you may decide that

your current job is no longer right for you. Here are tips on how to leave

without burning any bridges.

 Don’t quit on an impulse. We all have bad days and feel the temptation to

walk away from the job right away. Yet, this is unproductive for your own

career. Plan your exit in advance, look for a better job over an extended period

of time, and leave when the moment is right.

26

 Don’t quit too often. While trading jobs in an upward fashion is good, leaving

one place and getting another job that is just like the previous one in pay,

responsibilities, and position does not help you move forward in your career,

and makes you look like a quitter. Companies are often wary of hiring job

hoppers.

 When you decide to leave, tell your boss first, and be nice. Don’t discuss all

the things your manager may have done wrong. Explain your reasons without

blaming anyone and frame it as an issue of poor job fit.

 Do not badmouth your employer. It is best not to bash the organization you

are leaving in front of coworkers. Do not tell them how happy you are to be

quitting or how much better your new job looks. There is really no point in

making any remaining employees feel bad.

 Guard your professional reputation. You must realize that the world is a

small place. People know others and tales of unprofessional behavior travel

quickly to unlikely places.

 Finish your ongoing work and don’t leave your team in a bad spot. Right

before a major deadline is probably a bad time to quit. Offer to stay at least

two weeks to finish your work, and to help hire and train your replacement.

 Don’t steal from the company! Give back all office supplies, keys, ID cards,

and other materials. Don’t give them any reason to blemish their memory of

you. Who knows…you may even want to come back one day.

Sources: Adapted from information in Challenger, J. E. (1992, November–

December), How to leave your job without burning bridges. Women in

Business, 44(6), 29; Daniels, C., & Vinzant, C. (2000, February 7). The joy of

quitting, Fortune, 141(3), 199–202; Schroeder, J. (2005, November). Leaving

your job without burning bridges.Public Relations Tactics, 12(11), 4;

Woolnough, R. (2003, May 27). The right and wrong ways to leave your

job. Computer Weekly, 55.

27

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Employees demonstrate a wide variety of positive and negative behaviors at work.

Among these behaviors, four are critically important and have been extensively

studied in the OB literature. Job performance is a person’s accomplishments of tasks

listed in one’s job description. A person’s abilities, particularly mental abilities, are

the main predictor of job performance in many occupations. How we are treated at

work, the level of stress experienced at work, work attitudes, and, to a lesser extent,

our personality are also factors relating to one’s job performance. Citizenship

behaviors are tasks helpful to the organization but are not in one’s job description.

Performance of citizenship behaviors is less a function of our abilities and more of

motivation. How we are treated at work, personality, work attitudes, and our age are

the main predictors of citizenship. Among negative behaviors, absenteeism and

turnover are critically important. Health problems and work–life balance issues

contribute to more absenteeism. Poor work attitudes are also related to

absenteeism, and younger employees are more likely to be absent from work.

Turnover is higher among low performers, people who have negative work attitudes,

and those who experience a great deal of stress. Personality and youth are personal

predictors of turnover.

E X E R C I S E S

1. What is the difference between performance and organizational citizenship

behaviors? How would you increase someone’s performance? How would you

increase citizenship behaviors?

2. Are citizenship behaviors always beneficial to the company? If not, why not? Can you

think of any citizenship behaviors that employees may perform with the intention of

helping a company but that may have negative consequences overall?

3. Given the factors correlated with job performance, how would you identify future

high performers?

28

4. What are the major causes of absenteeism at work? How can companies minimize

the level of absenteeism that takes place?

5. In some companies, managers are rewarded for minimizing the turnover within their

department or branch. A part of their bonus is tied directly to keeping the level of

turnover below a minimum. What do you think about the potential effectiveness of

these programs? Do you see any downsides to such programs?

4.3 The Role of Ethics and National Culture

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Consider the role of job attitudes on ethical behavior.

2. Consider the role of national culture on job attitudes and behaviors.

Job Attitudes, Behaviors, and Ethics

People prefer to work in companies that have an ethical environment. Studies

show that when an organization has a moral climate that values doing the

right thing, people tend to be happier at work, more committed to their

companies, and less likely to want to leave. In other words, in addition to

increasing the frequency of ethical behaviors, the presence of an ethical

climate will attach people to a company. An ethical climate is related to

performing citizenship behaviors in which employees help each other and

their supervisors, and perform many behaviors that are not part of their job

descriptions. [1]

If people are happy at work and committed to the company, do they behave

more ethically? This connection is not as clear. In fact, loving your job and

being committed to the company may prevent you from realizing that the

company is doing anything wrong. One study showed that, when people were

29

highly committed to their company, they were less likely to recognize

organizational wrongdoing and less likely to report the problem to people

within the organization. Whistleblowers, or people who reported wrongdoing,

were more likely to have moderate levels of commitment to the company. It is

possible that those people who identify with a company are blind to its

faults. [2]

Companies trying to prevent employees from behaving unethically face a

dilemma. One way of reducing unethical behaviors is to monitor employees

closely. However, when people are closely monitored through video cameras,

when their e-mails are routinely read, and when their online activities are

closely monitored, employees are more likely to feel that they are being treated

unfairly and with little respect. Therefore, high levels of employee monitoring,

while reducing the frequency of unethical behaviors, may reduce job

satisfaction and commitment, as well as work performance and citizenship

behaviors. Instead of monitoring and punishing employees, organizations can

reduce unethical behavior by creating an ethical climate and making ethics a

shared value. [3]

Job Attitudes Around the Globe

Do the same things satisfy people around the globe? Even though many of the

findings regarding satisfaction are generalizable to different cultures, some

research reveals that differences may also exist. In one study comparing job

satisfaction in 20 countries, work–family conflict was found to lower job

satisfaction only in individualistic cultures. It is possible that in collectivistic

cultures, when people have to make sacrifices for work, they may compensate

by forming better relations with coworkers, which prevents employees from

being dissatisfied. There is also evidence that while autonomy and

empowerment are valued in the United States, Mexico, and Poland, high levels

30

of empowerment were related to lower job satisfaction in India. [4]

Despite

some variation, major factors that make people happy, such as being treated

well and having good relations with others, are likely to generalize across

cultures.

Culture also influences work behaviors. Behaviors regarded as a citizenship

behavior in the United States or other Western cultures, such as helping a new

coworker learn the job, may be viewed as part of a person’s job performance in

other cultures. Research shows that managers in cultures such as Hong Kong

and Japan define job performance more broadly. For example, the willingness

to tolerate less than ideal circumstances within the company without

complaining was viewed as part of someone’s job in Hong Kong, whereas this

was viewed as more discretionary in the United States and Australia. Norms

regarding absenteeism and turnover are also subject to cultural differences.

One study shows that in China, absence from work because of one’s illness,

stress, or depression was relatively unacceptable, while in Canada, these

reasons were viewed as legitimate reasons for being absent. [5]

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

There is a connection between a company’s ethics climate, work attitudes, and

citizenship behaviors demonstrated by employees. A highly committed workforce

may not necessarily demonstrate higher levels of ethics, because highly committed

people may be less likely to notice companywide wrongdoing and, in turn, not report

them. Companies have to strike a balance between reducing unethical behaviors and

maintaining a highly satisfied and committed workforce. Some tactics of reducing

unethical behaviors, such as close monitoring of employees, may erode trust

between management and employees and lead to negative work attitudes. There

are cross-cultural differences in how employee work attitudes are shaped and the

31

work behaviors that are expected from employees. Being aware of these differences

facilitates effective management of a global workforce.

E X E R C I S E S

1. Which factors related to work attitudes in Western cultures should also be related to

work attitudes in other cultures? Are there any that you think would not be

important in a different culture you are familiar with?

2. Do you think people leave their jobs for the same reasons around the world? If not,

explain why you think so.

4.4 Conclusion Work attitudes are our feelings toward our company and job. Job satisfaction

and organizational commitment are related to many outcomes of interest,

such as absenteeism, performance, and turnover. Therefore, companies track

feelings toward work and try to create more positive attitudes. The main

behaviors that contribute to organizational effectiveness are job performance,

citizenship behaviors, absenteeism, and turnover. These behaviors are affected

by a complex blend of personality and situational factors, and factors affecting

these behaviors and work attitudes will be examined in more detail in other

chapters of this book.

4.5 Exercises

E T H I C A L D I L E M M A

You are a department manager in an advertising agency. The employees of the

department have recently completed an attitude survey. Three employees in your

32

department reported that they were harassed by senior people in the department

and they are experiencing a hostile work environment. You do not know who these

people are, but you feel that you need to do something. The surveys were filled out

confidentially, and employees were assured that their identities would not be

revealed to management. You feel that you can identify who they are because the

person in HR who administered the survey is a friend of yours and that person can

tell you the demographics of the employees, which would help you identify them.

1. Should you ask for the identity-revealing information? What are the advantages and

disadvantages of finding out the identity of these people?

2. How would you handle a situation like this now and in the future?

I N D I V I D U A L E X E R C I S E

Reading and Responding to Employee Blogs

You found out that one employee from your company has created a blog about the

company. Other current and ex-employees are also posting on this blog, and the

picture they are painting is less than flattering. They are talking about their gripes,

such as long work hours and below-market pay, and how the company’s products

are not great compared to those of competitors. Worse, they are talking about the

people in the company by name. There are a couple of postings mentioning you by

name and calling you unfair and unreasonable.

1. What action would you take when you learn the presence of this blog? Would you

take action to stop this blogger? How?

2. Would you do anything to learn the identity of the blogger? If you found out, what

action would you take to have the employee disciplined?

3. What would you change within the company to deal with this situation?

4. Would you post on this blog? If so, under what name, and what comments would

you post?

G R O U P E X E R C I S E

Exit Interview Role-Play and Developing an Attitude Survey

33

This role-play will be played by three students. One student will be an employee

from the human resources (HR) department conducting the interview, the second

will be the employee who is leaving, and the third will be an observer. The HR

employee and the departing employee will conduct an exit interview. At the

conclusion of the interview, the observer will provide feedback to the HR employee

regarding how the interview could have been improved and how the employee could

have been more open.

Part 1: Role-Play

Be sure to read only the role sheet assigned to you.

Part 2

In groups of three, review the information gathered from the exit interview. Many of

these problems may be affecting the rest of the employees. Develop an attitude

survey to be distributed to remaining employees of this company. Develop questions

based on what came out of the interview as well as other areas you feel may be

important to know. Discuss how the surveys would be administered and what would

be done to (a) have a high response rate and (b) ensure the accuracy of responses.

1

This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative

Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License without

attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee.

2

Chapter 3 Understanding People at Work: Individual Differences and

Perception

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S After reading this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

1. Define personality and describe how it affects work behaviors.

2. Understand the role of values in determining work behaviors.

3. Explain the process of perception and how it affects work behaviors.

4. Understand how individual differences affect ethics.

5. Understand cross-cultural influences on individual differences and perception.

Kronos Uses Science to Match Candidates to Jobs You are interviewing a candidate for a position as a cashier in a supermarket.

You need someone polite, courteous, patient, and dependable. The candidate

you are talking to seems nice. But how do you know who is the right person for

the job? Will the job candidate like the job or get bored? Will they have a lot of

accidents on the job or be fired for misconduct? Don’t you wish you knew

before hiring? One company approaches this problem scientifically, saving

companies time and money on hiring hourly wage employees.

Retail employers do a lot of hiring, given their growth and high turnover rate.

According to one estimate, replacing an employee who leaves in retail costs

companies around $4,000. High turnover also endangers customer service.

Therefore, retail employers have an incentive to screen people carefully so that

they hire people with the best chance of being successful and happy on the job.

Unicru, an employee selection company, developed software that quickly

became a market leader in screening of hourly workers. The company was

acquired by Massachusetts-based Kronos Inc. in 2006.

3

The idea behind the software is simple: If you have a lot of employees and

keep track of your data over time, you have access to an enormous resource.

By analyzing this data, you can specify the profile of the “ideal” employee. The

software captures the profile of the potential high performers, and applicants

are screened to assess their fit with this particular profile. More important, the

profile is continuously updated as new employees are hired. As the database

gets larger, the software does a better job of identifying the right people for the

job.

If you applied for a job in retail, you may have already been a part of this

database: The users of this system include giants such as Albertsons, Universal

Studios, Costco Wholesale Corporation, Macy’s, Blockbuster Inc., Target

Brands Inc., and other retailers and chain restaurants. In companies such as

Target or Blockbuster, applicants use a kiosk in the store to answer a list of

questions and to enter their background, salary history, and other

information. In other companies, such as some in the trucking industry,

candidates enter the data through the Web site of the company they are

applying to. The software screens people on basic criteria such as availability

in scheduling as well as personality traits.

Candidates are asked to agree or disagree with statements such as “slow

people irritate me” or “I don’t act polite when I don’t want to.” After the

candidates complete the questions, hiring managers are sent a report

complete with a color-coded suggested course of action. Red means the

candidate does not fit the job, yellow means proceed with caution, and green

means the candidate can be hired on the spot. Interestingly, the company

contends that faking answers to the questions of the software is not easy

because it is difficult for candidates to predict the desired profile. For example,

4

according to their research, being a successful salesman has less to do with

being an extraverted and sociable person and more to do with a passion for

the company’s product.

Matching candidates to jobs has long been viewed as a key way of ensuring

high performance and low turnover in the workplace, and advances in

computer technology are making it easier and more efficient to assess

candidate-job fit. Companies using such technology are cutting down the time

it takes to hire people, and it is estimated that using such techniques lowers

their turnover by 10%–30%.

Sources: Berta, D. (2002, February 25). Industry increases applicant

screening amid labor surplus, security concerns. Nation’s Restaurant

News, 36(8), 4; Frauenheim, E. (2006, March 13). Unicru beefs up data in

latest screening tool. Workforce Management, 85(5), 9–10; Frazier, M. (2005,

April). Help wanted. Chain Store Age,81(4), 37–39; Haaland, D. E. (2006,

April 17). Safety first: Hire conscientious employees to cut down on costly

workplace accidents. Nation’s Restaurant News,40(16), 22–24; Overholt, A.

(2002, February). True or false? You’re hiring the right people. Fast

Company, 55, 108–109; Rafter, M. V. (2005, May). Unicru breaks through in

the science of “smart hiring.” Workforce Management, 84(5), 76–78.

Individuals bring a number of differences to work, such as unique

personalities, values, emotions, and moods. When new employees enter

organizations, their stable or transient characteristics affect how they

behave and perform. Moreover, companies hire people with the expectation

that those individuals have certain skills, abilities, personalities, and values.

Therefore, it is important to understand individual characteristics that

matter for employee behaviors at work.

5

3.1 The Interactionist Perspective: The Role of Fit

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Differentiate between person–organization and person–job fit.

2. Understand the relationship between person–job fit and work behaviors.

3. Understand the relationship between person–organization fit and work behaviors.

Individual differences matter in the workplace. Human beings bring in their

personality, physical and mental abilities, and other stable traits to work.

Imagine that you are interviewing an employee who is proactive, creative, and

willing to take risks. Would this person be a good job candidate? What

behaviors would you expect this person to demonstrate?

The question posed above is misleading. While human beings bring their traits

to work, every organization is different, and every job within the organization

is also different. According to the interactionist perspective, behavior is a

function of the person and the situation interacting with each other. Think

about it. Would a shy person speak up in class? While a shy person may not

feel like speaking, if the individual is very interested in the subject, knows the

answers to the questions, and feels comfortable within the classroom

environment, and if the instructor encourages participation and participation

is 30% of the course grade, regardless of the level of shyness, the person may

feel inclined to participate. Similarly, the behavior you may expect from

someone who is proactive, creative, and willing to take risks will depend on

the situation.

When hiring employees, companies are interested in assessing at least two

types of fit. Person–organization fit refers to the degree to which a person’s

6

values, personality, goals, and other characteristics match those of the

organization. Person–job fit is the degree to which a person’s skill, knowledge,

abilities, and other characteristics match the job demands. Thus, someone

who is proactive and creative may be a great fit for a company in the high-tech

sector that would benefit from risk-taking individuals, but may be a poor fit

for a company that rewards routine and predictable behavior, such as

accountants. Similarly, this person may be a great fit for a job such as a

scientist, but a poor fit for a routine office job. The opening case illustrates one

method of assessing person–organization and person–job fit in job applicants.

The first thing many recruiters look at is the person–job fit. This is not

surprising, because person–job fit is related to a number of positive work

attitudes such as satisfaction with the work environment, identification with

the organization, job satisfaction, and work behaviors such as job

performance. Companies are often also interested in hiring candidates who

will fit into the company culture (those with high person–organization fit).

When people fit into their organization, they tend to be more satisfied with

their jobs, more committed to their companies, and more influential in their

company, and they actually remain longer in their company. [1]

One area of

controversy is whether these people perform better. Some studies have found

a positive relationship between person–organization fit and job performance,

but this finding was not present in all studies, so it seems that fitting with a

company’s culture will only sometimes predict job performance. [2]

It also

seems that fitting in with the company culture is more important to some

people than to others. For example, people who have worked in multiple

companies tend to understand the impact of a company’s culture better, and

therefore they pay more attention to whether they will fit in with the company

when making their decisions. [3]

Also, when they build good relationships with

7

their supervisors and the company, being a misfit does not seem to lead to

dissatisfaction on the job. [4]

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

While personality traits and other individual differences are important, we need to

keep in mind that behavior is jointly determined by the person and the situation.

Certain situations bring out the best in people, and someone who is a poor

performer in one job may turn into a star employee in a different job.

E X E R C I S E S

1. How can a company assess person–job fit before hiring employees? What are the

methods you think would be helpful?

2. How can a company determine person–organization fit before hiring employees?

Which methods do you think would be helpful?

3. What can organizations do to increase person–job and person–organization fit after

they hire employees?

3.2 Individual Differences: Values and Personality

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Understand what values are.

2. Describe the link between values and individual behavior.

3. Identify the major personality traits that are relevant to organizational behavior.

4. Explain the link between personality, work behavior, and work attitudes.

5. Explain the potential pitfalls of personality testing.

8

Values

Values refer to stable life goals that people have, reflecting what is most

important to them. Values are established throughout one’s life as a result of

the accumulating life experiences and tend to be relatively stable. [1]

The values

that are important to people tend to affect the types of decisions they make,

how they perceive their environment, and their actual behaviors. Moreover,

people are more likely to accept job offers when the company possesses the

values people care about. [2]

Value attainment is one reason why people stay in

a company, and when an organization does not help them attain their values,

they are more likely to decide to leave if they are dissatisfied with the job

itself. [3]

What are the values people care about? There are many typologies of values.

One of the most established surveys to assess individual values is the Rokeach

Value Survey. [4]

This survey lists 18 terminal and 18 instrumental values in

alphabetical order. Terminal values refer to end states people desire in life,

such as leading a prosperous life and a world at

peace. Instrumental values deal with views on acceptable modes of conduct,

such as being honest and ethical, and being ambitious.

According to Rokeach, values are arranged in hierarchical fashion. In other

words, an accurate way of assessing someone’s values is to ask them to rank

the 36 values in order of importance. By comparing these values, people

develop a sense of which value can be sacrificed to achieve the other, and the

individual priority of each value emerges.

Figure 3.2 Sample Items From Rokeach (1973) Value Survey

9

Where do values come from? Research indicates that they are shaped early in

life and show stability over the course of a lifetime. Early family experiences

are important influences over the dominant values. People who were raised in

families with low socioeconomic status and those who experienced restrictive

parenting often display conformity values when they are adults, while those

who were raised by parents who were cold toward their children would likely

value and desire security. [5]

Values of a generation also change and evolve in response to the historical

context that the generation grows up in. Research comparing the values of

different generations resulted in interesting findings. For example, Generation

Xers (those born between the mid-1960s and 1980s) are more individualistic

and are interested in working toward organizational goals so long as they

coincide with their personal goals. This group, compared to the baby boomers

(born between the 1940s and 1960s), is also less likely to see work as central to

their life and more likely to desire a quick promotion. [6]

The values a person holds will affect his or her employment. For example,

someone who has an orientation toward strong stimulation may pursue

extreme sports and select an occupation that involves fast action and high risk,

10

such as fire fighter, police officer, or emergency medical doctor. Someone who

has a drive for achievement may more readily act as an entrepreneur.

Moreover, whether individuals will be satisfied at a given job may depend on

whether the job provides a way to satisfy their dominant values. Therefore,

understanding employees at work requires understanding the value

orientations of employees.

Personality

Personality encompasses the relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and

behavioral patterns a person has. Our personality differentiates us from other

people, and understanding someone’s personality gives us clues about how

that person is likely to act and feel in a variety of situations. In order to

effectively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of different

employees’ personalities is helpful. Having this knowledge is also useful for

placing people in jobs and organizations.

If personality is stable, does this mean that it does not change? You probably

remember how you have changed and evolved as a result of your own life

experiences, attention you received in early childhood, the style of parenting

you were exposed to, successes and failures you had in high school, and other

life events. In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time. For

example, we tend to become more socially dominant, more conscientious

(organized and dependable), and more emotionally stable between the ages of

20 and 40, whereas openness to new experiences may begin to decline during

this same time. [7]

In other words, even though we treat personality as

relatively stable, changes occur. Moreover, even in childhood, our personality

shapes who we are and has lasting consequences for us. For example, studies

show that part of our career success and job satisfaction later in life can be

explained by our childhood personality. [8]

11

Is our behavior in organizations dependent on our personality? To some

extent, yes, and to some extent, no. While we will discuss the effects of

personality for employee behavior, you must remember that the relationships

we describe are modest correlations. For example, having a sociable and

outgoing personality may encourage people to seek friends and prefer social

situations. This does not mean that their personality will immediately affect

their work behavior. At work, we have a job to do and a role to perform.

Therefore, our behavior may be more strongly affected by what is expected of

us, as opposed to how we want to behave. When people have a lot of freedom

at work, their personality will become a stronger influence over their

behavior. [9]

Big Five Personality Traits

How many personality traits are there? How do we even know? In every

language, there are many words describing a person’s personality. In fact, in

the English language, more than 15,000 words describing personality have

been identified. When researchers analyzed the terms describing personality

characteristics, they realized that there were many words that were pointing to

each dimension of personality. When these words were grouped, five

dimensions seemed to emerge that explain a lot of the variation in our

personalities. [10]

Keep in mind that these five are not necessarily the only

traits out there. There are other, specific traits that represent dimensions not

captured by the Big Five. Still, understanding the main five traits gives us a

good start for describing personality. A summary of the Big Five traits is

presented in Figure 3.4 "Big Five Personality Traits".

Figure 3.4 Big Five Personality Traits

12

Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual,

creative, and open to new ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in

situations that require being flexible and learning new things. They are highly

motivated to learn new skills, and they do well in training settings. [11]

They

also have an advantage when they enter into a new organization. Their open-

mindedness leads them to seek a lot of information and feedback about how

they are doing and to build relationships, which leads to quicker adjustment to

the new job. [12]

When supported, they tend to be creative. [13]

Open people are

highly adaptable to change, and teams that experience unforeseen changes in

their tasks do well if they are populated with people high in

openness. [14]

Compared to people low in openness, they are also more likely

to start their own business. [15]

Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized,

systematic, punctual, achievement oriented, and dependable.

13

Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that uniformly predicts how

high a person’s performance will be, across a variety of occupations and

jobs. [16]

In fact, conscientiousness is the trait most desired by recruiters and

results in the most success in interviews. [17]

This is not a surprise, because in

addition to their high performance, conscientious people have higher levels of

motivation to perform, lower levels of turnover, lower levels of absenteeism,

and higher levels of safety performance at work. [18]

One’s conscientiousness is

related to career success and being satisfied with one’s career over

time. [19]

Finally, it seems that conscientiousness is a good trait to have for

entrepreneurs. Highly conscientious people are more likely to start their own

business compared to those who are not conscientious, and their firms have

longer survival rates. [20]

Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, and

sociable, and enjoys being in social situations. One of the established findings

is that they tend to be effective in jobs involving sales. [21]

Moreover, they tend

to be effective as managers and they demonstrate inspirational leadership

behaviors. [22]

Extraverts do well in social situations, and as a result they tend

to be effective in job interviews. Part of their success comes from how they

prepare for the job interview, as they are likely to use their social

network. [23]

Extraverts have an easier time than introverts when adjusting to a

new job. They actively seek information and feedback, and build effective

relationships, which helps with their adjustment. [24]

Interestingly, extraverts

are also found to be happier at work, which may be because of the

relationships they build with the people around them and their relative ease in

adjusting to a new job. [25]

However, they do not necessarily perform well in all

jobs, and jobs depriving them of social interaction may be a poor fit.

Moreover, they are not necessarily model employees. For example, they tend

14

to have higher levels of absenteeism at work, potentially because they may

miss work to hang out with or attend to the needs of their friends. [26]

Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is nice, tolerant, sensitive,

trusting, kind, and warm. In other words, people who are high in

agreeableness are likeable people who get along with others. Not surprisingly,

agreeable people help others at work consistently, and this helping behavior is

not dependent on being in a good mood. [27]

They are also less likely to retaliate

when other people treat them unfairly. [28]

This may reflect their ability to

show empathy and give people the benefit of the doubt. Agreeable people may

be a valuable addition to their teams and may be effective leaders because they

create a fair environment when they are in leadership positions. [29]

At the

other end of the spectrum, people low in agreeableness are less likely to show

these positive behaviors. Moreover, people who are not agreeable are shown to

quit their jobs unexpectedly, perhaps in response to a conflict they engage

with a boss or a peer. [30]

If agreeable people are so nice, does this mean that

we should only look for agreeable people when hiring? Some jobs may actually

be a better fit for someone with a low level of agreeableness. Think about it:

When hiring a lawyer, would you prefer a kind and gentle person, or a pit bull?

Also, high agreeableness has a downside: Agreeable people are less likely to

engage in constructive and change-oriented communication. [31]

Disagreeing

with the status quo may create conflict and agreeable people will likely avoid

creating such conflict, missing an opportunity for constructive change.

How Accurately Can You Describe Your Big Five Personality Factors? Go to http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/ to see how you score on these

factors.

15

Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable,

aggressive, temperamental, and moody. These people have a tendency to have

emotional adjustment problems and experience stress and depression on a

habitual basis. People very high in neuroticism experience a number of

problems at work. For example, they are less likely to be someone people go to

for advice and friendship. [32]

In other words, they may experience relationship

difficulties. They tend to be habitually unhappy in their jobs and report high

intentions to leave, but they do not necessarily actually leave their jobs. [33]

Being high in neuroticism seems to be harmful to one’s career, as they have

lower levels of career success (measured with income and occupational status

achieved in one’s career). Finally, if they achieve managerial jobs, they tend to

create an unfair climate at work. [34]

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Aside from the Big Five personality traits, perhaps the most well-known and

most often used personality assessment is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

(MBTI). Unlike the Big Five, which assesses traits, MBTI measures types.

Assessments of the Big Five do not classify people as neurotic or extravert: It is

all a matter of degrees. MBTI on the other hand, classifies people as one of 16

types. [35]

In MBTI, people are grouped using four dimensions. Based on how a

person is classified on these four dimensions, it is possible to talk about 16

unique personality types, such as ESTJ and ISTP.

MBTI was developed in 1943 by a mother–daughter team, Isabel Myers and

Katherine Cook Briggs. Its objective at the time was to aid World War II

veterans in identifying the occupation that would suit their personalities.

Since that time, MBTI has become immensely popular, and according to one

estimate, around 2.5 million people take the test annually. The survey is

criticized because it relies on types as opposed to traits, but organizations who

16

use the survey find it very useful for training and team-building purposes.

More than eighty of the Fortune 100 companies used Myers-Briggs tests in

some form. One distinguishing characteristic of this test is that it is explicitly

designed for learning, not for employee selection purposes. In fact, the Myers

& Briggs Foundation has strict guidelines against the use of the test for

employee selection. Instead, the test is used to provide mutual understanding

within the team and to gain a better understanding of the working styles of

team members. [36]

Figure 3.6 Summary of MBTI Types

Positive and Negative Affectivity

You may have noticed that behavior is also a function of moods. When people

are in a good mood, they may be more cooperative, smile more, and act

friendly. When these same people are in a bad mood, they may have a

tendency to be picky, irritable, and less tolerant of different opinions. Yet,

some people seem to be in a good mood most of the time, and others seem to

be in a bad mood most of the time regardless of what is actually going on in

their lives. This distinction is manifested by positive and negative affectivity

17

traits. Positive affective people experience positive moods more frequently,

whereas negative affective people experience negative moods with greater

frequency. Negative affective people focus on the “glass half empty” and

experience more anxiety and nervousness. [37]

Positive affective people tend to

be happier at work, [38]

and their happiness spreads to the rest of the work

environment. As may be expected, this personality trait sets the tone in the

work atmosphere. When a team comprises mostly negative affective people,

there tend to be fewer instances of helping and cooperation. Teams dominated

by positive affective people experience lower levels of absenteeism. [39]

When

people with a lot of power are also high in positive affectivity, the work

environment is affected in a positive manner and can lead to greater levels of

cooperation and finding mutually agreeable solutions to problems. [40]

OB Toolbox: Help, I work with a negative person! Employees who have high levels of neuroticism or high levels of negative

affectivity may act overly negative at work, criticize others, complain about

trivial things, or create an overall negative work environment. Here are some

tips for how to work with them effectively.

 Understand that you are unlikely to change someone else’s personality.

Personality is relatively stable and criticizing someone’s personality will not

bring about change. If the behavior is truly disruptive, focus on behavior, not

personality.

 Keep an open mind. Just because a person is constantly negative does not

mean that they are not sometimes right. Listen to the feedback they are giving

you.

 Set a time limit. If you are dealing with someone who constantly complains

about things, you may want to limit these conversations to prevent them from

consuming your time at work.

18

 You may also empower them to act on the negatives they mention. The next

time an overly negative individual complains about something, ask that

person to think of ways to change the situation and get back to you.

 Ask for specifics. If someone has a negative tone in general, you may want to

ask for specific examples for what the problem is.

Sources: Adapted from ideas in Ferguson, J. (2006, October 31). Expert’s

view…on managing office moaners. Personnel Today, 29; Karcher, C. (2003,

September), Working with difficult people. National Public Accountant, 39–

40; Mudore, C. F. (2001, February/March). Working with difficult

people. Career World, 29(5), 16–18; How to manage difficult people. (2000,

May). Leadership for the Front Lines, 3–4.

Self-Monitoring

Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring

his or her actions and appearance in social situations. In other words, people

who are social monitors are social chameleons who understand what the

situation demands and act accordingly, while low social monitors tend to act

the way they feel. [41]

High social monitors are sensitive to the types of

behaviors the social environment expects from them. Their greater ability to

modify their behavior according to the demands of the situation and to

manage their impressions effectively is a great advantage for them. [42]

In

general, they tend to be more successful in their careers. They are more likely

to get cross-company promotions, and even when they stay with one company,

they are more likely to advance. [43]

Social monitors also become the “go to”

person in their company and they enjoy central positions in their social

networks. [44]

They are rated as higher performers, and emerge as

leaders. [45]

While they are effective in influencing other people and get things

done by managing their impressions, this personality trait has some

19

challenges that need to be addressed. First, when evaluating the performance

of other employees, they tend to be less accurate. It seems that while trying to

manage their impressions, they may avoid giving accurate feedback to their

subordinates to avoid confrontations. [46]

This tendency may create problems

for them if they are managers. Second, high social monitors tend to experience

higher levels of stress, probably caused by behaving in ways that conflict with

their true feelings. In situations that demand positive emotions, they may act

happy although they are not feeling happy, which puts an emotional burden

on them. Finally, high social monitors tend to be less committed to their

companies. They may see their jobs as a stepping-stone for greater things,

which may prevent them from forming strong attachments and loyalty to their

current employer. [47]

Proactive Personality

Proactive personality refers to a person’s inclination to fix what is perceived as

wrong, change the status quo, and use initiative to solve problems. Instead of

waiting to be told what to do, proactive people take action to initiate

meaningful change and remove the obstacles they face along the way. In

general, having a proactive personality has a number of advantages for these

people. For example, they tend to be more successful in their job

searches. [48]

They are also more successful over the course of their careers,

because they use initiative and acquire greater understanding of the politics

within the organization. [49]

Proactive people are valuable assets to their

companies because they may have higher levels of performance. [50]

They

adjust to their new jobs quickly because they understand the political

environment better and often make friends more quickly. [51]

Proactive people

are eager to learn and engage in many developmental activities to improve

their skills. [52]

Despite all their potential, under some circumstances a

proactive personality may be a liability for an individual or an organization.

20

Imagine a person who is proactive but is perceived as being too pushy, trying

to change things other people are not willing to let go, or using their initiative

to make decisions that do not serve a company’s best interests. Research

shows that the success of proactive people depends on their understanding of

a company’s core values, their ability and skills to perform their jobs, and their

ability to assess situational demands correctly. [53]

Self-Esteem

Self-esteem is the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about

his or herself. People with high self-esteem view themselves in a positive light,

are confident, and respect themselves. On the other hand, people with low

self-esteem experience high levels of self-doubt and question their self-worth.

High self-esteem is related to higher levels of satisfaction with one’s job and

higher levels of performance on the job. [54]

People with low self-esteem are

attracted to situations in which they will be relatively invisible, such as large

companies. [55]

Managing employees with low self-esteem may be challenging

at times, because negative feedback given with the intention to improve

performance may be viewed as a judgment on their worth as an employee.

Therefore, effectively managing employees with relatively low self-esteem

requires tact and providing lots of positive feedback when discussing

performance incidents.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully.

Research shows that the belief that we can do something is a good predictor of

whether we can actually do it. Self-efficacy is different from other personality

traits in that it is job specific. You may have high self-efficacy in being

successful academically, but low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix

your car. At the same time, people have a certain level of generalized self-

21

efficacy and they have the belief that whatever task or hobby they tackle, they

are likely to be successful in it.

Research shows that self-efficacy at work is related to job

performance. [56]

This relationship is probably a result of people with high

self-efficacy setting higher goals for themselves and being more committed to

these goals, whereas people with low self-efficacy tend to

procrastinate. [57]

Academic self-efficacy is a good predictor of your GPA,

whether you persist in your studies, or drop out of college. [58]

Is there a way of increasing employees’ self-efficacy? Hiring people who are

capable of performing their tasks and training people to increase their self-

efficacy may be effective. Some people may also respond well to verbal

encouragement. By showing that you believe they can be successful and

effectively playing the role of a cheerleader, you may be able to increase self-

efficacy. Giving people opportunities to test their skills so that they can see

what they are capable of doing (or empowering them) is also a good way of

increasing self-efficacy. [59]

OB Toolbox: Ways to Build Your Self-Confidence Having high self-efficacy and self-esteem are boons to your career. People who

have an overall positive view of themselves and those who have positive

attitudes toward their abilities project an aura of confidence. How do you

achieve higher self-confidence?

 Take a self-inventory. What are the areas in which you lack confidence? Then

consciously tackle these areas. Take part in training programs; seek

opportunities to practice these skills. Confront your fears head-on.

22

 Set manageable goals. Success in challenging goals will breed self-confidence,

but do not make your goals impossible to reach. If a task seems daunting,

break it apart and set mini goals.

 Find a mentor. A mentor can point out areas in need of improvement, provide

accurate feedback, and point to ways of improving yourself.

 Don’t judge yourself by your failures. Everyone fails, and the most successful

people have more failures in life. Instead of assessing your self-worth by your

failures, learn from mistakes and move on.

 Until you can feel confident, be sure to act confident. Acting confident will

influence how others treat you, which will boost your confidence level. Pay

attention to how you talk and behave, and act like someone who has high

confidence.

 Know when to ignore negative advice. If you receive negative feedback from

someone who is usually negative, try to ignore it. Surrounding yourself with

naysayers is not good for your self-esteem. This does not mean that you

should ignore all negative feedback, but be sure to look at a person’s overall

attitude before making serious judgments based on that feedback.

Sources: Adapted from information in Beagrie, S. (2006, September 26).

How to…build up self confidence. Personnel Today, p. 31; Beste, F. J., III.

(2007, November–December). Are you an entrepreneur? In Business, 29(6),

22; Goldsmith, B. (2006, October). Building self confidence. PA Times,

Education Supplement, p. 30; Kennett, M. (2006, October). The scale of

confidence. Management Today, p. 40–45; Parachin, V. M. (March 2003,

October). Developing dynamic self-confidence. Supervision, 64(3), 13–15.

Locus of Control

Locus of control deals with the degree to which people feel accountable for

their own behaviors. Individuals with high internal locus of control believe

23

that they control their own destiny and what happens to them is their own

doing, while those with high external locus of control feel that things happen

to them because of other people, luck, or a powerful being. Internals feel

greater control over their own lives and therefore they act in ways that will

increase their chances of success. For example, they take the initiative to start

mentor-protégé relationships. They are more involved with their jobs. They

demonstrate higher levels of motivation and have more positive experiences at

work. [60]

Interestingly, internal locus is also related to one’s subjective well-

being and happiness in life, while being high in external locus is related to a

higher rate of depression. [61]

The connection between internal locus of control

and health is interesting, but perhaps not surprising. In fact, one study

showed that having internal locus of control at the age of ten was related to a

number of health outcomes, such as lower obesity and lower blood pressure

later in life. [62]

It is possible that internals take more responsibility for their

health and adopt healthier habits, while externals may see less of a connection

between how they live and their health. Internals thrive in contexts in which

they have the ability to influence their own behavior. Successful entrepreneurs

tend to have high levels of internal locus of control. [63]

Understand Your Locus of Control by Taking a Survey at the Following Web Site: http://discoveryhealth.queendom.com/questions/lc_short_1.html

Personality Testing in Employee Selection

Personality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. Matching

people to jobs matters, because when people do not fit with their jobs or the

company, they are more likely to leave, costing companies as much as a

person’s annual salary to replace them. In job interviews, companies try to

assess a candidate’s personality and the potential for a good match, but

24

interviews are only as good as the people conducting them. In fact,

interviewers are not particularly good at detecting the best trait that predicts

performance: conscientiousness. [64]

One method some companies use to

improve this match and detect the people who are potentially good job

candidates is personality testing. Companies such as Kronos and Hogan

Assessment Systems conduct preemployment personality tests. Companies

using them believe that these tests improve the effectiveness of their selection

and reduce turnover. For example, Overnight Transportation in Atlanta found

that using such tests reduced their on-the-job delinquency by 50%–100%. [65]

Yet, are these methods good ways of selecting employees? Experts have not yet

reached an agreement on this subject and the topic is highly controversial.

Some experts believe, based on data, that personality tests predict

performance and other important criteria such as job satisfaction. However,

we must understand that how a personality test is used influences its validity.

Imagine filling out a personality test in class. You may be more likely to fill it

out as honestly as you can. Then, if your instructor correlates your personality

scores with your class performance, we could say that the correlation is

meaningful. In employee selection, one complicating factor is that people

filling out the survey do not have a strong incentive to be honest. In fact, they

have a greater incentive to guess what the job requires and answer the

questions to match what they think the company is looking for. As a result, the

rankings of the candidates who take the test may be affected by their ability to

fake. Some experts believe that this is a serious problem. [66]

Others point out

that even with faking, the tests remain valid—the scores are still related to job

performance. [67]

It is even possible that the ability to fake is related to a

personality trait that increases success at work, such as social monitoring. This

issue raises potential questions regarding whether personality tests are the

most effective way of measuring candidate personality.

25

Scores are not only distorted because of some candidates faking better than

others. Do we even know our own personality? Are we the best person to ask

this question? How supervisors, coworkers, and customers see our personality

matters more than how we see ourselves. Therefore, using self-report

measures of performance may not be the best way of measuring someone’s

personality. [68]

We all have blind areas. We may also give “aspirational”

answers. If you are asked if you are honest, you may think, “Yes, I always have

the intention to be honest.” This response says nothing about your actual level

of honesty.

There is another problem with using these tests: How good a predictor of

performance is personality anyway? Based on research, not a particularly

strong one. According to one estimate, personality only explains about 10%–

15% of variation in job performance. Our performance at work depends on so

many factors, and personality does not seem to be the key factor for

performance. In fact, cognitive ability (your overall mental intelligence) is a

much more powerful influence on job performance, and instead of personality

tests, cognitive ability tests may do a better job of predicting who will be good

performers. Personality is a better predictor of job satisfaction and other

attitudes, but screening people out on the assumption that they may be

unhappy at work is a challenging argument to make in the context of employee

selection.

In any case, if you decide to use these tests for selection, you need to be aware

of their limitations. Relying only on personality tests for selection of an

employee is a bad idea, but if they are used together with other tests such as

tests of cognitive abilities, better decisions may be made. The company should

ensure that the test fits the job and actually predicts performance. This

process is called validating the test. Before giving the test to applicants, the

26

company could give it to existing employees to find out the traits that are most

important for success in the particular company and job. Then, in the selection

context, the company can pay particular attention to those traits. The

company should also make sure that the test does not discriminate against

people on the basis of sex, race, age, disabilities, and other legally protected

characteristics. Rent-A-Center experienced legal difficulties when the test they

used was found to be a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

The test they used for selection, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality

Inventory, was developed to diagnose severe mental illnesses and included

items such as “I see things or people around me others do not see.” In effect,

the test served the purpose of a clinical evaluation and was discriminating

against people with mental illnesses, which is a protected category under

ADA. [69]

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Values and personality traits are two dimensions on which people differ. Values are

stable life goals. When seeking jobs, employees are more likely to accept a job that

provides opportunities for value attainment, and they are more likely to remain in

situations that satisfy their values. Personality comprises the stable feelings,

thoughts, and behavioral patterns people have. The Big Five personality traits

(openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) are

important traits that seem to be stable and can be generalized to other cultures.

Other important traits for work behavior include self-efficacy, self-esteem, social

monitoring, proactive personality, positive and negative affectivity, and locus of

control. It is important to remember that a person’s behavior depends on the match

between the person and the situation. While personality is a strong influence on job

attitudes, its relation to job performance is weaker. Some companies use personality

testing to screen out candidates. This method has certain limitations, and companies

27

using personality tests are advised to validate their tests and use them as a

supplement to other techniques that have greater validity.

E X E R C I S E S

1. Think about the personality traits covered in this section. Can you think of jobs or

occupations that seem particularly suited to each trait? Which traits would be

universally desirable across all jobs?

2. What are the unique challenges of managing employees who have low self-efficacy

and low self-esteem? How would you deal with this situation?

3. What are some methods that companies can use to assess employee personality?

4. Have you ever held a job where your personality did not match the demands of the

job? How did you react to this situation? How were your attitudes and behaviors

affected?

5. Can you think of any limitations of developing an “ideal employee” profile and

looking for employees who fit that profile while hiring?

3.3 Perception

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Understand the influence of self in the process of perception.

2. Describe how we perceive visual objects and how these tendencies may affect our

behavior.

3. Describe the biases of self-perception.

4. Describe the biases inherent in perception of other people.

5. Explain what attributions mean, how we form attributions, and their consequences

for organizational behavior.

28

Our behavior is not only a function of our personality, values, and preferences,

but also of the situation. We interpret our environment, formulate responses,

and act accordingly. Perception may be defined as the process with which

individuals detect and interpret environmental stimuli. What makes human

perception so interesting is that we do not solely respond to the stimuli in our

environment. We go beyond the information that is present in our

environment, pay selective attention to some aspects of the environment, and

ignore other elements that may be immediately apparent to other people. Our

perception of the environment is not entirely rational. For example, have you

ever noticed that while glancing at a newspaper or a news Web site,

information that is interesting or important to you jumps out of the page and

catches your eye? If you are a sports fan, while scrolling down the pages you

may immediately see a news item describing the latest success of your team. If

you are the parent of a picky eater, an advice column on toddler feeding may

be the first thing you see when looking at the page. So what we see in the

environment is a function of what we value, our needs, our fears, and our

emotions. [1]

In fact, what we see in the environment may be objectively, flat-

out wrong because of our personality, values, or emotions. For example, one

experiment showed that when people who were afraid of spiders were shown

spiders, they inaccurately thought that the spider was moving toward

them. [2]

In this section, we will describe some common tendencies we engage

in when perceiving objects or other people, and the consequences of such

perceptions. Our coverage of biases and tendencies in perception is not

exhaustive—there are many other biases and tendencies on our social

perception.

Visual Perception

Our visual perception definitely goes beyond the physical information

available to us. First of all, we extrapolate from the information available to us.

29

Take a look at the following figure. The white triangle you see in the middle is

not really there, but we extrapolate from the information available to us and

see it there. [3]

Figure 3.7

Our visual perception goes beyond the information physically available. In this

figure, we see the white triangle in the middle even though it is not really there.

Our visual perception is often biased because we do not perceive objects in

isolation. The contrast between our focus of attention and the remainder of

the environment may make an object appear bigger or smaller. This principle

is illustrated in the figure with circles. Which of the middle circles is bigger?

To most people, the one on the left appears bigger, but this is because it is

surrounded by smaller circles. The contrast between the focal object and the

objects surrounding it may make an object bigger or smaller to our eye.

Figure 3.8

30

Which of the circles in the middle is bigger? At first glance, the one on the left

may appear bigger, but they are in fact the same size. We compare the middle

circle on the left to its surrounding circles, whereas the middle circle on the right

is compared to the bigger circles surrounding it.

How do these tendencies influence behavior in organizations? You may have

realized that the fact that our visual perception is faulty may make witness

testimony faulty and biased. How do we know whether the employee you

judge to be hardworking, fast, and neat is really like that? Is it really true, or

are we comparing this person to other people in the immediate environment?

Or let’s say that you do not like one of your peers and you think that this

person is constantly surfing the Web during work hours. Are you sure? Have

you really seen this person surf unrelated Web sites, or is it possible that the

person was surfing the web for work-related purposes? Our biased visual

perception may lead to the wrong inferences about the people around us.

Self-Perception

Human beings are prone to errors and biases when perceiving themselves.

Moreover, the type of bias people have depends on their personality. Many

people suffer from self-enhancement bias. This is the tendency to overestimate

our performance and capabilities and see ourselves in a more positive light

than others see us. People who have a narcissistic personality are particularly

subject to this bias, but many others are still prone to overestimating their

abilities. [4]

At the same time, other people have the opposing extreme, which

may be labeled as self-effacement bias. This is the tendency for people to

underestimate their performance, undervalue capabilities, and see events in a

way that puts them in a more negative light. We may expect that people with

low self-esteem may be particularly prone to making this error. These

tendencies have real consequences for behavior in organizations. For example,

31

people who suffer from extreme levels of self-enhancement tendencies may

not understand why they are not getting promoted or rewarded, while those

who have a tendency to self-efface may project low confidence and take more

blame for their failures than necessary.

When perceiving themselves, human beings are also subject to the

false consensus error. Simply put, we overestimate how similar we are to

other people. [5]

We assume that whatever quirks we have are shared by a larger

number of people than in reality. People who take office supplies home, tell

white lies to their boss or colleagues, or take credit for other people’s work to

get ahead may genuinely feel that these behaviors are more common than they

really are. The problem for behavior in organizations is that, when people

believe that a behavior is common and normal, they may repeat the behavior

more freely. Under some circumstances this may lead to a high level of

unethical or even illegal behaviors.

Social Perception

How we perceive other people in our environment is also shaped by our

values, emotions, feelings, and personality. Moreover, how we perceive others

will shape our behavior, which in turn will shape the behavior of the person we

are interacting with.

One of the factors biasing our perception is stereotypes. Stereotypes are

generalizations based on group characteristics. For example, believing that

women are more cooperative than men, or men are more assertive than

women, is a stereotype. Stereotypes may be positive, negative, or neutral.

Human beings have a natural tendency to categorize the information around

them to make sense of their environment. What makes stereotypes potentially

discriminatory and a perceptual bias is the tendency to generalize from a

32

group to a particular individual. If the belief that men are more assertive than

women leads to choosing a man over an equally (or potentially more) qualified

female candidate for a position, the decision will be biased, potentially illegal,

and unfair.

Stereotypes often create a situation called a self-fulfilling prophecy. This cycle

occurs when people automatically behave as if an established stereotype is

accurate, which leads to reactive behavior from the other party that confirms

the stereotype. [6]

If you have a stereotype such as “Asians are friendly,” you

are more likely to be friendly toward an Asian yourself. Because you are

treating the other person better, the response you get may also be better,

confirming your original belief that Asians are friendly. Of course, just the

opposite is also true. Suppose you believe that “young employees are slackers.”

You are less likely to give a young employee high levels of responsibility or

interesting and challenging assignments. The result may be that the young

employee reporting to you may become increasingly bored at work and start

goofing off, confirming your suspicions that young people are slackers!

Stereotypes persist because of a process called selective perception. Selective

perception simply means that we pay selective attention to parts of the

environment while ignoring other parts. When we observe our environment,

we see what we want to see and ignore information that may seem out of

place. Here is an interesting example of how selective perception leads our

perception to be shaped by the context: As part of a social experiment, in 2007

the Washington Post newspaper arranged Joshua Bell, the internationally

acclaimed violin virtuoso, to perform in a corner of the Metro station in

Washington DC. The violin he was playing was worth $3.5 million, and tickets

for Bell’s concerts usually cost around $100. During the rush hour in which he

played for 45 minutes, only one person recognized him, only a few realized

33

that they were hearing extraordinary music, and he made only $32 in tips.

When you see someone playing at the metro station, would you expect them to

be extraordinary? [7]

Our background, expectations, and beliefs will shape which events we notice

and which events we ignore. For example, the functional background of

executives affects the changes they perceive in their

environment. [8]

Executives with a background in sales and marketing see the

changes in the demand for their product, while executives with a background

in information technology may more readily perceive the changes in the

technology the company is using. Selective perception may perpetuate

stereotypes, because we are less likely to notice events that go against our

beliefs. A person who believes that men drive better than women may be more

likely to notice women driving poorly than men driving poorly. As a result, a

stereotype is maintained because information to the contrary may not reach

our brain.

Let’s say we noticed information that goes against our beliefs. What then?

Unfortunately, this is no guarantee that we will modify our beliefs and

prejudices. First, when we see examples that go against our stereotypes, we

tend to come up with subcategories. For example, when people who believe

that women are more cooperative see a female who is assertive, they may

classify this person as a “career woman.” Therefore, the example to the

contrary does not violate the stereotype, and instead is explained as an

exception to the rule. [9]

Second, we may simply discount the information. In

one study, people who were either in favor of or opposed to the death penalty

were shown two studies, one showing benefits from the death penalty and the

other discounting any benefits. People rejected the study that went against

their belief as methodologically inferior and actually reinforced the belief in

34

their original position even more. [10]

In other words, trying to debunk people’s

beliefs or previously established opinions with data may not necessarily help.

One other perceptual tendency that may affect work behavior is that

of first impressions. The first impressions we form about people tend to have a

lasting impact. In fact, first impressions, once formed, are surprisingly

resilient to contrary information. Even if people are told that the first

impressions were caused by inaccurate information, people hold onto them to

a certain degree. The reason is that, once we form first impressions, they

become independent of the evidence that created them. [11]

Any information

we receive to the contrary does not serve the purpose of altering the original

impression. Imagine the first day you met your colleague Anne. She treated

you in a rude manner and when you asked for her help, she brushed you off.

You may form the belief that she is a rude and unhelpful person. Later, you

may hear that her mother is very sick and she is very stressed. In reality she

may have been unusually stressed on the day you met her. If you had met her

on a different day, you could have thought that she is a really nice person who

is unusually stressed these days. But chances are your impression that she is

rude and unhelpful will not change even when you hear about her mother.

Instead, this new piece of information will be added to the first one: She is

rude, unhelpful, and her mother is sick. Being aware of this tendency and

consciously opening your mind to new information may protect you against

some of the downsides of this bias. Also, it would be to your advantage to pay

careful attention to the first impressions you create, particularly during job

interviews.

OB Toolbox: How Can I Make a Great First Impression in the Job Interview?

35

A job interview is your first step to getting the job of your dreams. It is also a

social interaction in which your actions during the first 5 minutes will

determine the impression you make. Here are some tips to help you create a

positive first impression.

 Your first opportunity to make a great impression starts even before the

interview, the moment you send your résumé. Be sure that you send your

résumé to the correct people, and spell the name of the contact person

correctly! Make sure that your résumé looks professional and is free from

typos and grammar problems. Have someone else read it before you hit the

send button or mail it.

 Be prepared for the interview. Many interviews have some standard

questions such as “tell me about yourself” or “why do you want to work here?”

Be ready to answer these questions. Prepare answers highlighting your skills

and accomplishments, and practice your message. Better yet, practice an

interview with a friend. Practicing your answers will prevent you from

regretting your answers or finding a better answer after the interview is over!

 Research the company. If you know a lot about the company and the job in

question, you will come out as someone who is really interested in the job. If

you ask basic questions such as “what does this company do?” you will not be

taken as a serious candidate. Visit the company’s Web site as well as others,

and learn as much about the company and the job as you can.

 When you are invited for an office interview, be sure to dress properly. Like

it or not, the manner you dress is a big part of the impression you make. Dress

properly for the job and company in question. In many jobs, wearing

professional clothes, such as a suit, is expected. In some information

technology jobs, it may be more proper to wear clean and neat business casual

clothes (such as khakis and a pressed shirt) as opposed to dressing formally.

Do some investigation about what is suitable. Whatever the norm is, make

sure that your clothes fit well and are clean and neat.

36

 Be on time to the interview. Being late will show that you either don’t care

about the interview or you are not very reliable. While waiting for the

interview, don’t forget that your interview has already started. As soon as you

enter the company’s parking lot, every person you see on the way or talk to

may be a potential influence over the decision maker. Act professionally and

treat everyone nicely.

 During the interview, be polite. Use correct grammar, show eagerness and

enthusiasm, and watch your body language. From your handshake to your

posture, your body is communicating whether you are the right person for the

job!

Sources: Adapted from ideas in Bruce, C. (2007, October). Business

Etiquette 101: Making a good first impression. Black Collegian, 38(1), 78–80;

Evenson, R. (2007, May). Making a great first impression. Techniques, 14–17;

Mather, J., & Watson, M. (2008, May 23). Perfect candidate. The Times

Educational Supplement, 4789, 24–26; Messmer, M. (2007, July). 10 minutes

to impress. Journal of Accountancy,204(1), 13; Reece, T. (2006, November–

December). How to wow! Career World, 35, 16–18.

Attributions

Your colleague Peter failed to meet the deadline. What do you do? Do you help

him finish up his work? Do you give him the benefit of the doubt and place the

blame on the difficulty of the project? Or do you think that he is irresponsible?

Our behavior is a function of our perceptions. More specifically, when we

observe others behave in a certain way, we ask ourselves a fundamental

question: Why? Why did he fail to meet the deadline? Why did Mary get the

promotion? Why did Mark help you when you needed help? The answer we

give is the key to understanding our subsequent behavior. If you believe that

Mark helped you because he is a nice person, your action will be different from

37

your response if you think that Mark helped you because your boss pressured

him to.

An attribution is the causal explanation we give for an observed behavior. If

you believe that a behavior is due to the internal characteristics of an actor,

you are making an internal attribution. For example, let’s say your classmate

Erin complained a lot when completing a finance assignment. If you think that

she complained because she is a negative person, you are making an internal

attribution. An external attribution is explaining someone’s behavior by

referring to the situation. If you believe that Erin complained because finance

homework was difficult, you are making an external attribution.

When do we make internal or external attributions? Research shows that three

factors are the key to understanding what kind of attributions we make.

Consensus: Do other people behave the same way?

Distinctiveness: Does this person behave the same way across different

situations?

Consistency: Does this person behave this way in different occasions in the

same situation?

Let’s assume that in addition to Erin, other people in the same class also

complained (high consensus). Erin does not usually complain in other classes

(high distinctiveness). Erin usually does not complain in finance class (low

consistency). In this situation, you are likely to make an external attribution,

such as thinking that finance homework is difficult. On the other hand, let’s

assume that Erin is the only person complaining (low consensus). Erin

38

complains in a variety of situations (low distinctiveness), and every time she is

in finance, she complains (high consistency). In this situation, you are likely to

make an internal attribution such as thinking that Erin is a negative

person. [12]

Interestingly though, our attributions do not always depend on the consensus,

distinctiveness, and consistency we observe in a given situation. In other

words, when making attributions, we do not always look at the situation

objectively. For example, our overall relationship is a factor. When a manager

likes a subordinate, the attributions made would be more favorable (successes

are attributed to internal causes, while failures are attributed to external

causes). [13]

Moreover, when interpreting our own behavior, we suffer

from self-serving bias. This is the tendency to attribute our failures to the

situation while attributing our successes to internal causes. [14]

Table 3.1 Consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency determine the type of

attribution we make in a given situation.

Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency Type of

attribution

High consensus High distinctiveness Low consistency

External

Everyone else behaves the same way.

This person does not usually behave this way in different situations.

This person does not usually behave this way in this situation.

Low consensus Low distinctiveness High consistency

Internal No one else behaves the

This person usually behaves this way in

Every time this person is in this

39

Consensus Distinctiveness Consistency Type of

attribution

same way. different situations. situation, he or she acts the same way.

How we react to other people’s behavior would depend on the type of

attributions we make. When faced with poor performance, such as missing a

deadline, we are more likely to punish the person if an internal attribution is

made (such as “the person being unreliable”). In the same situation, if we

make an external attribution (such as “the timeline was unreasonable”),

instead of punishing the person we might extend the deadline or assign more

help to the person. If we feel that someone’s failure is due to external causes,

we may feel empathy toward the person and even offer help. [15]

On the other

hand, if someone succeeds and we make an internal attribution (he worked

hard), we are more likely to reward the person, whereas an external

attribution (the project was easy) is less likely to yield rewards for the person

in question. Therefore, understanding attributions is important to predicting

subsequent behavior.

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

Perception is how we make sense of our environment in response to environmental

stimuli. While perceiving our surroundings, we go beyond the objective information

available to us, and our perception is affected by our values, needs, and emotions.

There are many biases that affect human perception of objects, self, and others.

When perceiving the physical environment, we fill in gaps and extrapolate from the

available information. We also contrast physical objects to their surroundings and

may perceive something as bigger, smaller, slower, or faster than it really is. In self-

perception, we may commit the self-enhancement or self-effacement bias,

depending on our personality. We also overestimate how much we are like other

40

people. When perceiving others, stereotypes infect our behavior. Stereotypes may

lead to self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotypes are perpetuated because of our

tendency to pay selective attention to aspects of the environment and ignore

information inconsistent with our beliefs. When perceiving others, the attributions

we make will determine how we respond to the situation. Understanding the

perception process gives us clues to understand human behavior.

E X E R C I S E S

1. What are the implications of contrast error for interpersonal interactions? Does this

error occur only when we observe physical objects? Or have you encountered this

error when perceiving behavior of others?

2. What are the problems of false consensus error? How can managers deal with this

tendency?

3. Is there such a thing as a “good” stereotype? Is a “good” stereotype useful or still

problematic?

4. How do we manage the fact that human beings develop stereotypes? How would

you prevent stereotypes from creating unfairness in decision making?

5. Is it possible to manage the attributions other people make about our behavior?

Let’s assume that you have completed a project successfully. How would you

maximize the chances that your manager will make an internal attribution? How

would you increase the chances of an external attribution when you fail in a task?

3.4 The Role of Ethics and National Culture

L E A R N I N G O B J E C T I V E S

1. Consider the role of individual differences for ethical behavior.

2. Consider the role of national culture on individual differences.

41

Individual Differences and Ethics

Our values and personality influence how ethical we behave. Situational

factors, rewards, and punishments following unethical choices as well as a

company’s culture are extremely important, but the role of personality and

personal values should not be ignored. Research reveals that people who have

an economic value orientation, that is, those who value acquiring money and

wealth, tend to make more unethical choices. In terms of personality,

employees with external locus of control were found to make more unethical

choices. [1]

Our perceptual processes are clear influences on whether or not we behave

ethically and how we respond to other people’s unethical behaviors. It seems

that self-enhancement bias operates for our ethical decisions as well: We tend

to overestimate how ethical we are in general. Our self-ratings of ethics tend to

be higher than how other people rate us. This belief can create a glaring

problem: If we think that we are more ethical than we are, we will have little

motivation to improve. Therefore, understanding how other people perceive

our actions is important to getting a better understanding of ourselves.

How we respond to unethical behavior of others will, to a large extent, depend

on the attributions we make. If we attribute responsibility to the person in

question, we are more likely to punish that person. In a study on sexual

harassment that occurred after a workplace romance turned sour, results

showed that if we attribute responsibility to the victim, we are less likely to

punish the harasser. [2]

Therefore, how we make attributions in a given

situation will determine how we respond to others’ actions, including their

unethical behaviors.

42

Individual Differences Around the Globe

Values that people care about vary around the world. In fact, when we refer to

a country’s culture, we are referring to values that distinguish one nation from

others. In other words, there is systematic variance in individuals’ personality

and work values around the world, and this variance explains people’s

behavior, attitudes, preferences, and the transferability of management

practices to other cultures.

When we refer to a country’s values, this does not mean that everyone in a

given country shares the same values. People differ within and across nations.

There will always be people who care more about money and others who care

more about relationships within each culture. Yet there are also national

differences in the percentage of people holding each value. A researcher from

Holland, Geert Hofstede, conducted a landmark study covering over 60

countries and found that countries differ in four dimensions: the extent to

which they put individuals or groups first (individualism), whether the society

subscribes to equality or hierarchy among people (power distance), the degree

to which the society fears change (uncertainty avoidance), and the extent to

which the culture emphasizes acquiring money and being successful

(masculinity). [3]

Knowing about the values held in a society will tell us what

type of a workplace would satisfy and motivate employees.

Are personality traits universal? Researchers found that personality traits

identified in Western cultures translate well to other cultures. For example,

the five-factor model of personality is universal in that it explains how people

differ from each other in over 79 countries. At the same time, there is variation

among cultures in the dominant personality traits. In some countries,

extraverts seem to be the majority, and in some countries the dominant trait is

low emotional stability. For example, people from Europe and the United

43

States are characterized by higher levels of extraversion compared to those

from Asia and Africa. There are many factors explaining why some personality

traits are dominant in some cultures. For example, the presence of democratic

values is related to extraversion. Because democracy usually protects freedom

of speech, people may feel more comfortable socializing with strangers as well

as with friends, partly explaining the larger number of extraverts in

democratic nations. Research also shows that in regions of the world that

historically suffered from infectious diseases, extraversion and openness to

experience was less dominant. Infectious diseases led people to limit social

contact with strangers, explaining higher levels of introversion. Plus, to cope

with infectious diseases, people developed strict habits for hygiene and the

amount of spice to use in food, and deviating from these standards was bad for

survival. This explains the lower levels of openness to experience in regions

that experienced infectious diseases. [4]

Is basic human perception universal? It seems that there is variation around

the globe in how we perceive other people as well as ourselves. One difference

is the importance of the context. Studies show that when perceiving people or

objects, Westerners pay more attention to the individual, while Asians pay

more attention to the context. For example, in one study, when judging the

emotion felt by the person, the Americans mainly looked at the face of the

person in question, while the Japanese also considered the emotions of the

people surrounding the focal person. In other words, the Asian subjects of the

experiment derived meaning from the context as well as by looking at the

person. [5]

There seems to be some variation in the perceptual biases we commit as well.

For example, human beings have a tendency to self-enhance. We see ourselves

in a more positive light than others do. Yet, the traits in which we self-enhance

44

are culturally dependent. In Western cultures, people may overestimate how

independent and self-reliant they are. In Asian cultures, such traits are not

necessarily desirable, so they may not embellish their degree of independence.

Yet, they may overestimate how cooperative and loyal to the group they are

because these traits are more desirable in collectivistic cultures. [6]

Given the variation in individual differences around the globe, being sensitive

to these differences will increase our managerial effectiveness when managing

a diverse group of people.

Personality Around the Globe Which nations have the highest average self-esteem? Researchers asked this

question by surveying almost 17,000 individuals across 53 nations, in 28

languages.

Based on this survey, these are the top 10 nations in terms of self-reported

self-esteem.

1. Serbia

2. Chile

3. Israel

4. Peru

5. Estonia

6. United States

7. Turkey

8. Mexico

9. Croatia

10. Austria

The 10 nations with the lowest self-reported self-esteem are the following:

45

 South Korea

 Switzerland

 Morocco

 Slovakia

 Fiji

 Taiwan

 Czech Republic

 Bangladesh

 Hong Kong

 Japan

Source: Adapted from information in Denissen, J. J. A., Penke, L., & Schmitt,

D. P. (2008, July). Self-esteem reactions to social interactions: Evidence for

sociometer mechanisms across days, people, and nations. Journal of

Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 181–196; Hitti, M. (2005). Who’s no. 1

in self-esteem? Serbia is tops, Japan ranks lowest, U.S. is no. 6 in global

survey. WebMD. Retrieved November 14, 2008,

from http://www.webmd.com/skin-beauty/news/20050927/whos-number-

1-in-self-esteem; Schmitt, D. P., & Allik, J. (2005). The simultaneous

administration of the Rosenberg self-esteem scale in 53 nationals: Culture-

specific features of global self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 89, 623–642.

K E Y T A K E A W A Y

There is a connection between how ethically we behave and our individual values,

personality, and perception. Possessing values emphasizing economic well-being

predicts unethical behavior. Having an external locus of control is also related to

unethical decision making. We are also likely to overestimate how ethical we are,

which can be a barrier against behaving ethically. Culture seems to be an influence

over our values, personality traits, perceptions, attitudes, and work behaviors.

46

Therefore, understanding individual differences requires paying careful attention to

the cultural context.

E X E R C I S E S

1. If ethical decision making depends partially on personality, what can organizations

do to increase the frequency of ethical behaviors?

2. Do you think personality tests used in Western cultures in employee selection can be

used in other cultures?

3.5 Conclusion In conclusion, in this chapter we have reviewed major individual differences

that affect employee attitudes and behaviors. Our values and personality

explain our preferences and the situations we feel comfortable with.

Personality may influence our behavior, but the importance of the context in

which behavior occurs should not be neglected. Many organizations use

personality tests in employee selection, but the use of such tests is

controversial because of problems such as faking and low predictive value of

personality for job performance. Perception is how we interpret our

environment. It is a major influence over our behavior, but many systematic

biases color our perception and lead to misunderstandings.

3.6 Exercises

E T H I C A L D I L E M M A

You are applying for the job of sales associate. You have just found out that you will

be given a personality assessment as part of the application process. You feel that

47

this job requires someone who is very high in extraversion, and someone who can

handle stress well. You are relatively sociable and can cope with some stress but

honestly you are not very high in either trait. The job pays well and it is a great

stepping-stone to better jobs. How are you going to respond when completing the

personality questions? Are you going to make an effort to represent yourself as how

you truly are? If so, there is a chance that you may not get the job. How about

answering the questions to fit the salesperson profile? Isn’t everyone doing this to

some extent anyway?

Discussion Questions

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of completing the questions honestly?

2. What are the advantages and disadvantages of completing the questions in a way

you think the company is looking for?

3. What would you really do in a situation like this?

I N D I V I D U A L E X E R C I S E

Changing Others’ Perceptions of You

How do other people perceive you? Identify one element of how others perceive you

that you are interested in changing. It could be a positive perception (maybe they

think you are more helpful than you really are) or a negative perception (maybe they

think you don’t take your studies seriously).

 What are the reasons why they formed this perception? Think about the

underlying reasons.

 What have you done to contribute to the development of this perception?

 Do you think there are perceptual errors that contribute to this perception? Are

they stereotyping? Are they engaging in selective perception?

 Are you sure that your perception is the accurate one? What information do

you have that makes your perceptions more valid than theirs?

 Create an action plan about how you can change this perception.

G R O U P E X E R C I S E

48

Selecting an Expatriate Using Personality Tests

Your department has over 50 expatriates working around the globe. One of the

problems you encounter is that the people you send to other cultures for long-term

(2- to 5-year) assignments have a high failure rate. They either want to return home

before their assignment is complete, or they are not very successful in building

relationships with the local employees. You suspect that this is because you have

been sending people overseas solely because of their technical skills, which does not

seem to be effective in predicting whether these people will make a successful

adjustment to the local culture. Now you have decided that when selecting people to

go on these assignments, personality traits should be given some weight.

1. Identify the personality traits you think might be relevant to being successful in an

expatriate assignment.

2. Develop a personality test aimed at measuring these dimensions. Make sure that

each dimension you want to measure is captured by at least 10 questions.

3. Exchange the test you have developed with a different team in class. Have them fill

out the survey and make sure that you fill out theirs. What problems have you

encountered? How would you feel if you were a candidate taking this test?

4. Do you think that prospective employees would fill out this questionnaire honestly?

If not, how would you ensure that the results you get would be honest and truly

reflect their personality?

5. How would you validate such a test? Describe the steps you would take.

Electronic Physician (ISSN: 2008-5842) http://www.ephysician.ir March 2016, Volume: 8, Issue: 3, Pages: 2129-2135, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.19082/2129

Corresponding author: Rezvan Dashti, School of Rehabilitation, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of medical sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. Tel: +98.6133738269, Fax: +98. 6133738282, Email: [email protected] Received: October 02, 2015, Accepted: December 06, 2015, Published: March 2016 iThenticate screening: November 28, 2015, English editing: February 18, 2016, Quality control: March 06, 2016 © 2016 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.

Page 2129

Association between Organizational Commitment and Personality Traits of Faculty Members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences

Farzad Faraji Khiavi1, Rezvan Dashti2, Saeedeh Mokhtari3

1 Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Health Services Administration, School of Health, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2 M.Sc. in Rehabilitation Administration, School of Rehabilitation, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 3 B.Sc. in Health Services Administration, School of Health, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, A hvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran

Type of article: Original

Abstract Introduction: Individual characteristics are important factors influencing organizational commitment. Also, committed human resources can lead organizations to performance improvement as well as personal and organizational achievements. This research aimed to determine the association between organizational commitment and personality traits among faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Methods: the research population of this cross-sectional study was the faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences (Ahvaz, Iran). The sample size was determined to be 83. Data collection instruments were the Allen and Meyer questionnaire for organizational commitment and Neo for characteristics' features. The data were analyzed through Pearson’s product-moment correlation and the independent samples t- test, ANOVA, and simple linear regression analysis (SLR) by SPSS. Results: Continuance commitment showed a significant positive association with neuroticism, extroversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Normative commitment showed a significant positive association with conscientiousness and a negative association with extroversion (p = 0.001). Openness had a positive association with affective commitment. Openness and agreeableness, among the five characteristics’ features, had the most effect on organizational commitment, as indicated by simple linear regression analysis. Conclusion: Faculty members’ characteristics showed a significant association with their organizational commitment. Determining appropriate characteristic criteria for faculty members may lead to employing committed personnel to accomplish the University's objectives and tasks. Keywords: organizational commitment, personal characteristics, faculty members, university

1. Introduction In the current era, human resources are considered as the most important capital of the organizations, and higher quality of the capital increases the likelihood of success, survival, and promotion of the organization. According to some experts in management science, if organizations want to fully achieve their objectives by having clear goals, optimal strategies, efficient organizational structures, and proper jobs design, they require competent and committed human resources (1). Therefore, it is necessary to improve the quality of human resources, because it would benefit both the organization and the individuals. It seems that, regardless of the size, desires, and inner motivations of people in the organization, achieving the organizational goals will be very difficult (2). One of the attitudes and motivational issues that are focused by resources management and organizational and psychological behavior studies today, that is effective in human resources and organizational performance productivity, is the organizational

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commitment and the predictors that affect it. Organizational commitment, as an important occupational and organizational attitude, is simply the belief in the values and goals of the organization, a sense of loyalty to the organization, moral obligation, heart's desire and need to stay in the organization (3). Three components are considered for organizational commitment: 1) Emotional commitment: the tendency of people to share their energy and loyalty to continue their work in the organization; 2) Continuous commitment: willingness to do continuous activities based on the recognition of costs associated with leaving the organization; and 3) Normative commitment: feeling of duty to remain as a member of the organization (4). One of the most important predictors of organizational commitment is the attention to the personality and characteristics and individual differences of staff. Paying attention to the personality and dimensions and characteristics of the individuals is one of the issues that always can help organizations achieve their objectives and organizational efficiency and become the creativity development source or root of many organizational problems and can have effects on action, behavior, decisions, and organizational behavior (5). The first and foremost component of an organization system is the human resources with their different personalities, so the motivations, abilities, desires, ideas, and thoughts that are actually important tools forming the human personality, determine the people's expectations toward each other and also toward the organization. One of the most important classifications about the personality traits that has been confirmed at different times and cultures and also is used in this study is the classification of Costa and McCrae (6). Using factor analysis, they concluded that five major features can be considered among the differences: 1) Neuroticism (emotional stability), 2) Extroversion, 3) Flexibility (experience), 4) Agreeableness (spirit of the agreeability), and 5) Conscientiousness (Job consciousness). Personality traits form the foundation of the behavioral system and are important and influential in determining and predicting staff’s organizational behavior in the future, such as leaving the job, delay, negligence, absenteeism, their organizational commitment, and also all processes related to their recruitment, transfer, and appointment to organizational jobs. Because they have realized that they can obtain a framework for predicting the employees’ behavior by identifying these features and employees’ personalities, and help the management of the system in this way to appoint qualified people in different positions, reduce the displacement of employees, and increase job satisfaction (7). Jaafari et al (8) maintained Schroder's (9) findings that predictors of organizational commitment are organizational policies, the job itself, payments, work conditions, and promotion. However, according to Ahmadian and Askarian (10), the organizational commitment is mostly about loyalty to the organization and considering the consequences of leaving the organization. Sepahvand and Shariatnejad (11) mentioned some theories that organizational commitment is emotional attachment and involving with the organization, and accepting its values. Considering a relatively large number of requests from new faculty members for transfer to other universities in Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences, it seemed convenient to do some research on particular basic variables, such as personal traits. So far, studies have been conducted to investigate individuals’ organizational commitment based on personality traits or relationship between these two variables in the industrial sector, such as Choghtai, Glad, and Emmanuel Camillery (12-14). However, only a few studies have been done in the health sector, and they include the study of Bahrami et al., which was conducted on the nurses in Yazd (15). Since administrators can use the preliminary estimates of personality traits of faculty members to make decisions about their participation in achieving the organization's goals, the present study aimed to determine the association between organizational commitment and personality traits of faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences.

2. Material and Methods 2.1. Setting, sampling, and inclusion criteria This was an analytical study in which the data were collected in a cross-sectional method. The study population consisted of 612 faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. The determined sample size due to the coefficient r = 0.44, α = 0.01 and z (1- α/2) = 2.57 with a confidence level of 99% and z (1- β) = 1.68 with test power of 95% was 83. Stratified random sampling was used to distribute questionnaires among respondents. Inclusion criteria were the formal, contractual, or projective membership of Faculty of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Tuition faculty members and people with other titles began teaching at the University and also people who did not want to cooperate with the investigation were excluded. Not formal faculty members and individuals teaching with other titles at the University and also individuals who did not want to cooperate were excluded from the investigation.

2.2. Instrument and data collection The research tools of the two questionnaires consisted of Costa and McCrae's NEO personality inventory (16) and organizational commitment of Allen & Meyer (17). The neo-standard questionnaire consisted of 60 questions that

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evaluated the five dimensions of personality traits, including neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, flexibility, and conscientiousness. Each of the 5 areas was measured by 12 questions, which were responded to by a 5-point Likert scale (strongly agree, agree, no comment, disagree, and strongly disagree). Allen and Meyer's organizational commitment questionnaire had 24 items and 3 subscales (affective commitment, continuous commitment, normative commitment) that each of these dimensions was measured by 8 questions using the Likert method. The validity of the questionnaires was approved by five specialized professors. In this study, Cronbach's alpha of personality traits and organizational commitment questionnaires were calculated as 0.88 and 0.81, respectively (27). Questionnaires were distributed among the faculty members of various colleges within six weeks and were collected after completion. Data distribution was normal, and data analysis was performed using Pearson’s product-moment correlation, the independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and simple linear regression analysis (SLR) in SPSS software.

2.3. Research ethics Licensure and an introduction letter from the college explaining the purpose of the study and the need for it to faculty members of Ahvaz Jundishapur University and retention of personal information of respondents were of the research ethical considerations.

3. Results In this study, 40 females (48.19%) and 43 males (51.81%) were investigated. Demographic information of the research population is presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Absolute and relative frequency distribution of demographic characteristics of subjects Variable Classification n % Gender Male 43 51.81

Female 40 48.19 Age 31-40 33 39.75

41-50 32 38.55 51-60 18 21.70

Education MA 29 34.93 PhD 54 65.07

Science Ranking Educator 31 37.36 Assistant Professor 46 55.42 Associate Professor 3 3.61 Professor 3 3.61

Employment Status Contractual 25 30.11 Formal 50 60.26 Projective 8 9.63

College Medical 13 15.66 Pharmacy 13 15.66 Paramedical 17 20.48 Rehabilitation 14 16.88 Nursing 13 15.66 Hygiene 13 15.66

Total 137 100

As can be seen in Table 1, in age distribution, 39.75% of the faculty members were in the age group of 31 -40 years. The lowest frequency was in the age group of 51-60 years with 21.70% relative frequency. Fifty-four individuals (65.07%) of those studied had doctorate degrees, which were the most frequent. Forty-six individuals (55.42%) were assistant professors who had the highest number. The lowest frequency was for associate professors and professors, and 37.36% of the respondents were educators. More than sixty percent were formal employed faculty members who had the highest percentage. Mean score of personality traits was calculated as 44.15 ± 3.35 and estimated to be relatively good. Mean scores of personality traits' subscales were calculated as 39.13 ± 6.53 for neuroticism, 42.7 ± 5.3 for extraversion, 40.7 ± 3.77 for flexibility, and 48.47 ± 47 for conscientiousness. These scores represented a relatively good situation of the mentioned characteristics. Agreeableness personality trait represented the very good

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situation with a mean score of 49.55 ± 4.36. Agreeableness and neuroticism had the highest and lowest ratings, respectively, among the personality traits dimensions. Organizational commitment in faculty members was estimated to be relatively strong with a mean score of 25.91 ± 2.8. Organizational commitment dimensions of affective, continuous, and normative commitments were calculated as 28.54 ± 2.4, 24.11 ± 4.4, and 25.08 ± 1.8, respectively. All three subscales were estimated to be relatively strong in this study. The results of studying the association between personality traits and dimensions of organizational commitment are shown in Table 2. There was a positive, significant, and large association between personal traits of neuroticism and continuous commitment. There was a positive, significant, and medium association between the personal traits of extraversion and continuous commitment. And there was a negative, significant, and small association between the personal traits of extraversion and normative commitment. The model of personality traits affecting on the organizational commitment concluded via simple linear regression analysis. This model is demonstrated in Table 3. SLR results in Table 3 showed that the personality traits of flexibility and agreeableness had the greatest impact on organizational commitment and the dimensions of flexibility and agreeableness might predict 23% of the organizational commit ment changes. Accordingly, simple linear regression analysis equation of organizational commitment based on predictor variables is as follows: Organizational Commitment = 11.99 + (Agreeableness) 0.716 + (Flexibility) 0.871.

Table 2. Relationship between dimensions of personality traits and organizational commitment Personality traits Statistical indicator Organizational

commitment Normative commitment

Continuous commitment

Affective commitment

Neuroticism Pearson coefficient 0.299 -0.153 0.650 0.170 p-value 0.006 0.167 0.000 0.124

Extroversion Pearson coefficient 0.295 -0.075 0.457 0.221 p-value 0.007 0.000 0.000 0.044

Flexibility Pearson coefficient 0.368 0.089 0.185 0.377 p-value 0.001 0.426 0.094 0.000

Agreeableness Pearson coefficient 0.318 0.018 0.613 0.146 p-value 0.003 0.869 0.000 0.187

Conscientiousness Pearson coefficient 0.370 0.261 0.441 0.161 p-value 0.001 0.017 0.000 0.146

Table 3. Simple linear regression analysis of personality traits that affect organizational commitment Variables Regression coefficients Beta T p-value Constant coefficient 11.987 0.808 0.422 Flexibility 0.871 0.316 3.160 0.002 Agreeableness 0.716 0.301 3.006 0.004

4. Discussion The results of this study showed that there is a significant and large association between personality traits of neuroticism and continuous commitment. This means that individuals who have high scores in this dimension have high emotional stability and do not have any tendency to experience psychological distress in the form of anxiety, anger, depression, shame, hatred, or negative emotions. They also have the ability to control their desires and use effective strategies to deal with stress. As a result, they have high continuous commitment in the organization. Mousavi and Majidi (18) concluded in their study that there was a significant, positive, and medium association between these two variables, which is in line with the present study. Furthermore, the results of Lonzberry et al. (19) and Chang and Lee (20) are consistent with the current study. Personality trait of extraversion has positive, significant, and medium association with the continuous commitment, and it has a negative, significant, and small association with the normative commitment. It means that the people who pay more attention to outside have direct and average continuous commitment and weak and reverse normative commitment compared to those whose behaviors are resulted from subjective evaluation and internal factors. In extroverted people, positive emotions a nd extroversion are related to their organizational commitment and consequently their organizational health, because positive emotions are the behavioral core of this type of individuals. Bahrami et al. (15) reported in their study that the organizational commitment in extroverted people is significantly more than introverted ones, which is in line with the findings of the present study. Gray et al. (21) also concluded that personality type of individuals does not have a significant association with their organizational commitment. Emanuel Camilleri (14) reported in his study

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that personality traits, such as introversion and extroversion, have a significant association with organizational commitment, which also is consistent with the current study. The results of this study showed that there is a significant and medium association between the personality trait of flexibility and affective commitment. It means that the people whose life experiences are rich are willing to accept new ideas and unconventional va lues, and they tend to have high positive and negative emotions and have an average emotional commitment in an organization. Also, people who have a sense of belonging, security, prosperity, loyalty, and conscientiousness are committed to their organization, participate in the organization, and enjoy being a member of that organization. Mousavi and Majidi (18) reported in a similar study that there was medium and positive association between the personality traits of flexibility and organizational commitment of the employees, which is in line with the current study. Moreover, Chang and Lee obtained similar results in their study (20). People with this kind of trait are receptive to new ideas and have a broad range of interests. Due to introspection, these people usually disagree with others, and their thinking and methods may be quite different from those of others. They are gifted and curious people and have a strong, wise, and exquisite imagination with a wide range of interests; and since they are curious about the inner and the outer world and their life is full of experience, this flexibility can be a factor to reduce occupational stress and increase organizational commitment. According to the results of this study, it can be said that organizational commitment as a kind of organizational behavior is partly influenced by flexibility. So, the most important thing that universities can focus on is to consider personality traits, such as flexibility, when they are recruiting. The results showed that there is a positive, significant, and large association between the personality traits of agreeableness and continuous commitment. This means that people who want altruism, compassion, and helping others have a high continuous commitment to the organization. These people are sympathetic, considerate, and warm. It is easy to deal with them, and they are pleasant individuals that are enjoyable to be with. The results of SLR showed that among the dimensions of personality traits, this one has the greatest impact on organizational commitment. Since teaching needs altruistic people who are eager to help students, when selecting individuals for employment as teachers, it is appreciated to examine these important personality traits as well as the scientific and general comp etencies in order to recruit people who are more committed to the organizational goals and values governing the university.

According to the results of this study, the personality trait of conscientiousness had positive and significant medium association with continuous commitment, and small association with normative commitment. This means that those with high scores in this dimension who are highly accurate, punctual, and reliable and tend to have great success, and have a sense of responsibility in carrying out their duties, have good continuous commitment and weak normative commitment within the organization. These people are usually reliable, logical and highly productive, and are very accurate at timely completion of duties. They are idealist people and their behavior is based on ethical standards. Pour Yusef and Azadfallah (22) reported in their study that there was a significant association between the personality trait of conscientiousness and organizational commitment. The people with the personality trait of conscientiousness have more organizational commitment than others, which is in line with the results of the present study. Mousavi and Majidi (18) stated in their study that there was positive and medium association between the personality trait of conscientiousness and organizational commitment, which also was consistent with the results of the present study. Selecting competent employees is an operation that is done to reform, grow, and develop human beings. Considering personality dimensions, such as conscientiousness of people in the organization, can help organizations achieve the necessary efficiency, because these people are very careful and fastidious in their work and try to accomplish their mission properly. Organizational commitment has an important role in improving the health of the labor force and ignoring it will lead to non-optimal efficiency.

In this study, no significant association was observed between the demographic characteristics, including gender, age, scientific rank, education, and employment status and any of the personality traits and dimensions of organizational commitment. Bahrami et al. (15) stated that the introverted formal employees had the lowest organizational commitment, but this difference was not significant in extroverted people. The difference of organizational commitment in introverted nurses was significant based on their age so that older people had lower commitment; but this difference was not significant in extroverted people, which is inconsistent with the results of this study. Camilleri (14) found a significant association between the employees’ ages and their organizational commitment in his study, which is not consistent with the results of this study. Gray et al. (21) found in their study that there is no significant association between organizational commitment and gender and education, personality type and gender and education, which is in accordance with the results of the present study. It should be noted that some researchers have shown that personality traits could influence variables, such as organizational commitment and their job performance. According to some research, personality traits are among the best predictors of employees' performance (23, 24). Based on the results of the current study, it can be concluded that personality traits

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of faculty members should be considered as one of the determinants of their organizational commitment in human resource management practices. The most important limitation of research was that some of faculty members considered personality traits very personal and were not interested in answering the questionnaire. After explaining the research objectives, they gave their consent to participate in the research.

5. Conclusions With regard to the significant association between personality traits and organizational commitment in the present study, it is suggested that more studies be conducted to determine the appropriate indicators of appropriate personality traits for faculty members so that the recruited people have the necessary commitment to objectives and tasks of the university. Work type compatibility with the individual’s personality trait in human resources productivity as well as meeting the needs according to Maslow pyramid, may lead the person to self-actualization, which is important in personal and social performance of the person and organization. Paying attention to personality traits, especially empiricism factors such as considering ingenuity and creativeness, creates mechanisms for openness and curiosity, flexibility, and wisdom in academic research and training affairs are essential, as well as agreeableness factors, such as good humor, kindness and empathy.

Acknowledgments: The source of the data used in this paper was the B.Sc. thesis of Saideh Mokhtari, a student at the Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. Financial support was provided by Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences. The University's Ethics Committee issued ethics code IR.AJUMS.REC.1394.425 for this research.

Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest to be declared.

Authors' contributions: All authors contributed to this project and article equally. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Management of Organizational Behavior (A case study of five factors model of personality in Qom University of Medical Sciences); Iran. J Health Adm. 2009; 12: 49-56.

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8) Jaafari P, Ghourchian N, Behboodian J, Shahidi N. Developing a Structural Model for Relationships among Self-efficacy, Competencies and Organizational Commitment with Teaching Quality of Faculty Members. Quarterly Journal of Research and Planning in Higher Education. 2012; 18(2): 61-82.

9) Schroder R. Predictors of Organizational Commitment for Faculty and Administrators of a Private Christian University. Journal of Research on Christian Education. 2008; 17(1): 81-97. doi: 10.1080/10656210801968299.

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12) Chughtai AA. Antecedents and consequences of organizational commitment among Pakistan university teachers. HRM. 2006; 11(1): 39-64.

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24) Khosravi M. Personality symmetry with informatics job. Informatics sciences journal. 2003; 18(3&4): 53 - 9.

These are the results from the OSPP DISC Assessment Test. The calculated scores for each type are

shown below.

Your highest score was for Type C. There are a number of descriptions of your type on the internet.

Here are a few:

from DISC insights

from Crystal Knows

C Personality Type

The Analyst in DISC

People with the C personality type tend to be objective, skeptical, and logical in their behavior. They are usually �ercely

pragmatic and frequently solve problems with an analytical, fact-driven approach. They are likely to be more reserved in

groups and may take a long time before they build enough trust to open up.

What is the C Personality Type (The Analyst)?

DISC Type C Personality Traits

With a position on the bottom left of the DISC, Analysts are likely to approach life in a serious manner. Preferring

solitary activities, they are likely to guard they privacy and be more involved with their deep, independent thoughts

than external stimuli.

In summary, DISC type C personalities tend to...

Prefer privacy and solitary activities.

Make objective decisions rather than emotional ones.

Skeptically or realistically appraise people and situations.

Be sensitive to lack of sincerity in others.

Maintain a serious demeanor at work.

DISC Type C Personality Strengths

Every personality archetype has strengths and blind spots, and these are often ampli�ed in professional settings

where we often encounter a diverse group of people with vastly different backgrounds and value systems.

DISC Type C Personality Weaknesses

Strengths typically associated with the DISC type C personality include...

Taking time to think things through when making decisions.

Providing clearly de�ned procedures when giving assignments.

Using a deliberate, methodical approach when solving problems.

Being comfortable analyzing large amounts of information.

Giving work assignments in writing and requests written feedback.

Weaknesses typically associated with the DISC type C personality include...

Seeking a perfect solution instead of a workable solutions.

Taking a lot of time gathering information and assessing risk before making decisions.

Avoiding or resisting people who do not use a systematic approach to organizing work.

Feeling the urge to criticize people who don't meet their standards for quality and accuracy.

Checking in too frequently, with too many questions, when someone needs more autonomy.

Overcomplicating solutions to simple problems.

DISC Type C Personality Growth

How DISC Type C personalities like to work

Growth opportunities typically associated with the DISC type C personality include...

Share about the work you’re doing with the rest of the team, even if it’s just in a brief message.

Understand that there are natural differences in strengths; one of yours is likely your organization, so there will likely be many

scenarios in which it’s best for you to adopt the organizational responsibilities.

Remain open-minded to others’ unique strengths, even if they seem frustratingly different from your own; people will often

surprise you with their capabilities.

Work with others who might have a more simple, direct approach to problem-solving.

Communicating with a DISC type C personality

Use a serious, businesslike demeanor and ask strictly objective questions to fully understand what they are thinking.

Meeting with a DISC type C personality

Meetings should be minimal, formally scheduled, and with a prepared agenda.

Resolving con�ict with a DISC type C personality

Con�ict should be viewed objectively to effectively bring underlying issues to the surface.

DISC Type C Personality Motivations

When people experience pain, stress, or dissatisfaction, it can usually be attributed to energy-draining activities.

Therefore, it’s important to know what kinds of activities energize each personality type and which activities drain

them.

Emailing a DISC type C personality

Emails should be clear, detailed, and factual.

Giving feedback to a DISC type C personality

Feedback should be speci�c, detailed, and delivered with logical reasoning.

DISC Type C Personality Stress

DISC Type C Personality Careers

Analysts tend to thrive in private environments where they can take enough time to do their work with accuracy,

precision, and the highest possible quality.

DISC Type C personality types tend to be motivated and energized by...

Solving problems with thorough analysis of the existing data.

Researching the root causes of a problem.

Creating procedures, rules, and guidelines for other people to follow.

Helping others become more methodical and ef�cient in their processes.

Working on projects independently and bringing results back to a group.

DISC Type C personality types tend to be drained by...

Brainstorming about far-out ideas instead of clear ones.

Taking the time to understand how someone else thinks.

Leaving your schedule open and �exible for spontaneous meetings throughout the day.

Explaining things with emotional, expressive language.

Analysts thrive in positions where they can take enough time to do their work with accuracy, precision, and the highest

possible quality. They are likely to prefer independent work over lots of collaboration, and typically prefer more

structured environments that have established rules and processes.

Common jobs for people with the DISC type C personality

DISC Type C Personality Relationships (Professional)

DISC Type C personality types feel energized at work when...

They are given plenty of personal space to solve a problem.

Their boss gives them plenty of autonomy.

Their peers ask them for advice in becoming more ef�cient.

Their direct reports follow the exact rules and guidelines.

DISC Type C personality types feel drained at work when...

They have to work closely with other people.

Their boss requires a lot of face-to-face meetings.

Their peers spend too much time talking.

Their direct reports make things up as they go.

Software Engineer Mechanical Engineer Chemical Engineer

Actuary Investment Analyst Software Developer

Data Scientist Financial Analyst Systems Administrator

Director of Engineering

Analysts can help more outgoing, quick-acting coworkers take the time to stop and think through important decisions.

When working with another C-type, it’s important that they consider new ways of approaching a situation when they

feel stuck on a problem.

DISC Type C Personality Relationships (Romantic)

Analysts can be practical, private partners. When in a relationship with another conscientious personality, it is

important for them to be aligned in their ideas to avoid a great deal of future con�ict.

DISC Type C personality types tend to work well with others who...

Have evidence to back up their claims

Show patience when answering clarifying questions

Give them plenty of space to work independently

DISC Type C personality types may hit obstacles in professional relationships when they...

Neglect to consider other people’s ideas

Misunderstand an assignment because they didn’t meet in-person

Unnecessarily criticize the actions of their coworkers

Related Personality Types

Below are the Enneagram and 16-Personality types that are similar to DISC Type C. 

Enneagram Type 5

16-Personality ISTJ

You can �nd your DISC, Enneagram, and 16-Personality types by taking Crystal's free personality test.

DISC Type C Personality Slide Show

Click through the slides below to learn more about C types:

In a romantic relationship, the DISC type C personality brings strengths like...

Carefully considering their choice in partner

Thinking through what they say before they say it

Being comfortable with necessary con�ict

In romantic relationships, DISC type C personality types may have trouble...

Considering their partner’s perspective

Being emotionally open and vulnerable

Spending quality time with their partner

Or watch the video:

Are you a DISC Type C? Take the DISC Assessment to see.

Select the word that most describes you and the word that least describes you. Once you complete the DISC

assessment below, you'll be able to see your DISC type.

1 of 34

DISC Type C PersonalityDISC Type C Personality

I am... Restrained i Decisive i Chatty i Traditional i

Most

Least

N E X T

DISC C PERSONALITY TYPE

 The 'C' Personality Style Explained

The 'C' Personality Style Explained

What are the general characteristics of the C DISC Styles? The C DISC Styles are accurate, precise, detail-oriented and conscientious. They think very analytically and systematically, and make decisions carefully with plenty of research and information to back it up. The C has very high standards for both themselves and others. Because they focus on the details and see what many other styles do not, they tend to be good problem solvers and very creative people.

What do the C DISC Styles contribute to a team?

The C style brings perspective to groups and tend to be the "anchor of reality" in team thought. When something is proposed, it is the C who will think through every detail of how it works and the process. They will make realistic estimates and will voice the problems that they see with the plan or already existing system. The C is conscientious and even-tempered. They will complete tasks they've committed to and will be very thorough. They take great pride in doing their work accurately and are excellent people to analyze, research, or test information.

What are the possible weaknesses for the C DISC Styles?

The C Personality Type is one of the passive styles, which results in avoiding conflict. They will avoid conflict rather than argue, and it is difficult to get them to verbalize their feelings. They need clear-cut boundaries in order to feel comfortable at work, in relationships, or to take action. Sometimes the C can be bound by procedures and

methods, and find it difficult to stray from order. Sometimes they can get too bogged down in the small details, making it difficult to see the next steps or big picture.

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What is the greatest fear of C DISC Styles?

Because C Personality Types take great pride in being accurate and correct, they fear criticism.

What motivates the C DISC Styles?

The C is motivated by information and logic. They have very high standards of quality and are motivated by being well informed, researching before deciding, having clear parameters and instructions, doing work accurately and correctly, and seeing a project through to the end.

What is the ideal environment for the C DISC Styles?

The C Personality Type prefers an environment that is peaceful and organized with few to no conflicts or arguments. They do not need to be social at work and would be fine working alone. They need an environment where tasks and projects can be followed through to

completion, and especially excel in specialized or technical tasks due to their attention to detail. The C feels most safe when there is procedure and routine, and they are given instructions and reassurance that they are doing what is expected of them.

Characteristics of the C style from PeopleKeys

00:53

What does the high C Personality Style desire?

C Personality Types desire independence and autonomy, but also a controlled and organized work environment. They require reassurance that they are doing what is expected and prefer exact job descriptions, expectations and goals to be laid out. They desire that things do not change, but if change is necessary, that it's well thought out and planned. The C does desire reassurance from others and fears being criticized.

What should one remember to do when working with C Personality Types?

When working with a C Personality Style, it's best to be prepared when possible. Do your research and prepare your case in advance. Pay attention to the details because this is what the C focuses on. When you can support a statement or idea with accurate data or examples, that is helpful. Submit a job description or specs for the project to give them parameters and details, and talk about how different tasks fit into the big picture plan. Be systematic and logical in your thinking and planning, and specific when agreeing or disagreeing. When disagreeing, work with facts instead of people examples. Be patient, persistent and diplomatic, and remember that they fear criticism.

What should one remember not to do when working with an C Personality Type?

Do not speak in broad generalizations with no specifics; use details and explanations when possible. Try not to answer questions too vaguely or casually, as they need information and details to make sense of new plans and decisions. Do not criticize the work they've already done, as they take great pride in their work. If you do need

to criticize, be specific with your examples and be diplomatic. Avoid being confrontational as they will not respond well to this and will close off.

What is a high C DISC Style likely to do when working with details or when analyzing information?

They will focus very much on the details and can become too focused on them, lacking perspective on the overall picture. However, they will be cautious when analyzing and will find any mistakes that need to be corrected. They are very effective trouble shooters. When the C style works with details and information, they excel, yet if they find problems or perceive a risk, they will try to avoid or postpone decisions being made based on it.

What positive characteristics does the C Personality Type possess when in teams?

C styles are instinctive organizers, who can both create and maintain systems. They strive for consistency, logic and accuracy, and do very good work. They ask important questions and talk about problems that could hold up projects. They are "do it yourself" managers who

maintain focus on tasks and will see something through until it's finished. They emphasize quality, think logically, and strive for a diplomatic approach and consensus within groups.

What are personal growth areas for C Personality Types?

Although the C style fears criticism from others, especially for their work, they tend to be over critical of others. This is a result of their paying attention in such detail. When doing this, it's easier to find all the faults. It's important to concentrate on doing the right things and not just doing things right. When working in teams, it's important for the C style to be open to others' ideas and methods, and to move quickly to help accomplish team goals. The C may need to focus more on people in order to build strong relationships, as they may have a tendency to focus on tasks more than people and want to work alone. At times, the C will need to push themselves to be decisive and take risks, even if all the research isn't there to support it.

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 18 MIN READ

How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?

Boosting Your People Skills

We all know people who are in full control of their emotions. They're calm in a crisis, and they make decisions sensitively, however stressful the situation.

We also know people who can read the emotions of others. They understand what to say to make people feel better, and they know how to inspire them to take action.

People like this have high emotional intelligence (or EI). They have strong relationships, and they manage difficult situations calmly and effectively. They're also likely to be resilient in the face of adversity.

So, how emotionally intelligent are you, and how can you develop further? Find out below.

How Emotionally Intelligent Are You?

Instructions

Evaluate each statement as you actually are, rather than as you think you should be. When you've finished, click "Calculate My Total," and use the table that follows to think about next steps.

15 Statements to Answer Not at

All Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often

I can recognize my emotions as I experience them.1

I lose my temper when I feel frustrated.2

People have told me that I'm a good listener.3

I know how to calm myself down when I feel anxious or upset.

4

I enjoy organizing groups.5

I find it hard to focus on something over the long term.6

I find it difficult to move on when I feel frustrated or unhappy.

7

I know my strengths and weaknesses.8

I avoid conflict and negotiations.9

I feel that I don't enjoy my work.10

I ask people for feedback on what I do well, and how I can improve.

11

Calculate My Total Total = 59

15 Statements to Answer Not at

All Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often

Score Interpretation

ScoreComment

15-34 You need to work on your emotional intelligence. You may find that you feel overwhelmed by your emotions, especially in stressful situations; or, you may avoid conflict because you think that you'll find it distressing.

It's likely, too, that you find it hard to calm down after you've felt upset, and you may struggle to build strong working relationships.

Don't worry – there are plenty of ways that you can build emotional intelligence, starting now. Read our tips below to find out more.

35-55 Your emotional intelligence level is... OK.

You probably have good relationships with some of your colleagues, but others may be more difficult to work with.

The good news is that you have a great opportunity to improve your working relationships significantly. Read more below to boost your EI still further.

56-75 Great! You're an emotionally intelligent person. You have great relationships, and you probably find that people approach you for advice.

However, when so many people admire your people skills, it's easy to lose sight of your own needs. Read our tips below to find out how you can continue to build your EI.

Researchers have found that emotionally intelligent people often have great leadership potential. Realize this potential by seeking opportunities to improve even further.

Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence

I set long-term goals, and review my progress regularly.12

I find it difficult to read other people's emotions.13

I struggle to build rapport with others.14

I use active listening skills when people speak to me.15

Psychologist Daniel Goleman identified five elements that make up emotional intelligence. These are:

1. Self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation.

3. Motivation.

4. Empathy.

5. Social skills.

Terms reproduced by permission of Bloomsbury Press.

Let’s look at how you can develop good skills in each area.

Self-Awareness

(Questions 1, 8, 11)

Your score is 13 out of 15 In his 1995 book "Emotional Intelligence: Why it can Matter More Than IQ," Goleman explained that people with high self-awareness are "aware of their moods as they are having them."

To increase self-awareness , learn about mindfulness . This involves focusing on the present moment – including how you're feeling. And keep a journal in which you write about and analyze the emotional situations you experience from day to day.

You also need to understand your strengths and weaknesses to build self-awareness. Do a personal SWOT analysis , and ask for feedback from your boss, friends, and trusted colleagues to find out how you can improve further.

Self-Regulation

(Questions 2, 4, 7)

Your score is 12 out of 15 Self-regulation is about staying in control. To develop your skills in this area, learn how to manage your emotions effectively.

If you often get angry , note what triggers this feeling, and think about why this happens. Use techniques such as deep breathing to calm yourself down, and give yourself time to pause before you respond to emails or requests, so that you don't say something that you'll later regret. (See our article on anger management to learn more about this.)

You may also be affected by other negative feelings and emotions, such as anxiety and stress . So, do what you can to manage these feelings effectively.

Accountability is another important element of self-regulation. Take responsibility for your actions and behaviors, and make sure that these align with your values .

Motivation

(Questions 6, 10, 12)

Your score is 10 out of 15 Self-motivation is strongly affected by your emotions. When you're distracted by your emotions, you may find it hard to see tasks through.

Boost your motivation levels by developing self-discipline , and by looking for and celebrating small wins – simple jobs that, when you've completed them, give you a sense of achievement.

Also, set yourself longer-term goals . When you decide what you want to achieve, you'll focus on what really matters to you. This can be highly motivating, especially when you connect personal goals with career-related ones.

If you're still struggling to get motivated in your current role, take some time to rediscover your purpose .

Empathy

(Questions 3, 13, 15)

Your score is 12 out of 15 Empathy is the ability to recognize other people's emotions and understand their perspectives. Goleman calls this aspect of EI "the fundamental people skill."

To develop empathy , start by simply thinking about other people's viewpoints. Imagine how they may be feeling, and use active listening skills to understand them fully when they express their emotions to you.

Try not to interrupt or talk about your own feelings during the conversation. Look at their body language , too: it can tell you a lot about their emotions. If you watch and listen to others, you'll quickly become attuned to how they feel. (The Perceptual Positions technique can give you a particularly sharp insight into what other people may be thinking and feeling.)

Tip:

If you're a leader, read our article "What's Empathy Got to do With it?" for tips on using empathy in leadership.

Social Skills

(Questions 5, 9, 14)

Your score is 12 out of 15 Even if you're not a natural "people person," it is possible to develop better social skills.

Start by taking our quiz to see which communication skills you need to improve on. Then, find out how you can develop trust and rapport with people – this is an essential part of building good working relationships .

Don't shy away from negative situations, either. Learn how to deal with conflict and other difficult situations effectively.

If you're uncomfortable with social situations, work on building self-confidence . Start slowly, but then look for opportunities to practice your skills with bigger groups. For example, you could offer to attend conferences on behalf of your team.

Key Points

Developing high emotional intelligence (or EI) is incredibly important for a successful career. When we have high levels of emotional intelligence, we're able to build strong working relationships and manage difficult situations

more effectively.

Influential psychologist Daniel Goleman developed a framework of five elements that define emotional intelligence:

1. Self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation.

3. Motivation.

4. Empathy.

5. Social skills.

Even if you already have many of the elements of emotional intelligence, it's important to look for opportunities to build it further. This will increase your leadership potential, and improve the quality of your relationships.

(For more detail, see our full emotional intelligence article and video and take a look at our infographic, below. Mind Tools Premium Club members and corporate users can also access our exclusive Expert Interview podcast with Daniel Goleman, here .)

Infographic

Click on the image below to see Goleman’s theory represented in an infographic:

atings

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© Emerald Works Limited 2020. All rights reserved. "Mind Tools" is a registered trademark of Emerald Works Limited.

Non Member 2020-10-27 21:08:24

 

I've read several books on EI over the years. These materials are a good review of the multiple aspects of emotional intelligence.

Warbs61 2020-10-21 11:19:58

 

Excellent and thought provoking

ng8313 2020-10-16 19:51:04

  skramp 2020-10-15 16:33:29

  Non Member 2020-10-15 04:29:35

 

very good

23…1361

Change language: English  Deutsch  Español  Nederlands  

  Your Results  

Closed-Minded Open to New Experiences

Disorganized Conscientious

Introverted Extraverted

Disagreeable Agreeable

Calm / Relaxed Nervous / High-Strung

What aspects of personality does this tell me about?

There has been much research on how people describe others, and five major dimensions of human personality have been found. They are often referred to as the OCEAN model of personality, because of the acronym from the names of the five dimensions. Here are your results:

Open-Mindedness

         High scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; Low scorers tend to be conventional, down to earth, narrow interests, uncreative.

         You enjoy having novel experiences and seeing things in new ways.

    (Your percentile: 87)

Conscientiousness

         High scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; Low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent.

         You are well-organized, and are reliable.     (Your percentile: 76)

Extraversion

         High scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; Low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet.

         You are neither particularly social or reserved.     (Your percentile: 43)

Agreeableness

         High scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; Low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous.

         You are neither extremely forgiving nor irritable.     (Your percentile: 57)

Negative Emotionality

         High scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; Low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy.

         You are generally relaxed.     (Your percentile: 22)

Results Feedback

How useful did you find your results?        Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Very Useful

What is the “Big Five”?

Personality psychologists are interested in what differentiates one person from another and why we behave the way that we do. Personality research, like any science, relies on quantifiable concrete data which can be used to examine what people are like. This is where the Big Five plays an important role.

The Big Five was originally derived in the 1970's by two independent research teams -- Paul Costa and Robert McCrae (at the National Institutes of Health), and Warren Norman (at the University of Michigan)/Lewis Goldberg (at the University of Oregon) -- who took slightly different routes at arriving at the same results: most human personality traits can be boiled down to five broad dimensions of personality, regardless of language or culture. These five dimensions were derived by asking thousands of people hundreds of questions and then analyzing the data with a statistical procedure known as factor analysis. It is important to realize that the researchers did not set out to find five dimensions, but that five dimensions emerged from their analyses of the data. In scientific circles, the Big Five is now the most widely accepted and used model of personality (though of course many other systems are used in pop psychology and work contexts; e.g., the MBTI).

What do the scores tell me?

In order to provide you with a meaningful comparison, the scores you received have been converted to “percentile scores.” This means that your personality score can be directly compared to another group of people who have also taken this personality test. The percentile scores show you where you score on each personality dimension relative to other people, taking into account normal differences in gender and age.

For example, your Extraversion percentile score is 43, which means that about 43 percent of the people in the comparison sample are less extraverted than you. In other words, you are neither introverted or extroverted as compared to them. Keep in mind that these percentile scores are relative to our particular sample of people. Thus, your percentile scores may differ if you were compared to another sample (e.g., elderly British people).

Where can I learn more?

If you'd like to learn more about personality psychology, take a look at these links to other personality sites on the web. Take a look at our homepage for more tests!

How do I save my results? How can I share them?

You can bookmark or share the link to this page. The URL for this page contains only the data needed to show your results and none of your private responses. Save this URL now, as you won't be able to get back to this page after closing it: https://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/results/? o=94,81,75&c=75,69,81&e=81,69,13&a=56,88,75&n=38,19,44&y=1980&g=f

For classroom activities: sometimes educators ask students to use this site for classroom projects and need the “raw” scores. Your raw scores, normalized 0 to 1: o:

0.83, c: 0.75, e: 0.54, a: 0.73, n: 0.34

1

Diagnosing Your Cultural Intelligence

Rate the extent to which you agree with each statement, using the scale:

1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree.

__________

Before I interact with people from a new culture, I ask myself what I hope to achieve.

__________

If I encounter something unexpected while working in a new culture, I use this experience to figure out new ways to approach other cultures in the future.

__________

I plan how I’m going to relate to people from a different culture before I meet them.

+ __________

When I come into a new cultural situation, I can immediately sense whether something is going well or something is wrong.

Total __________ ÷ 4 = __________ Cognitive CQ (Cultural Quotient)

__________

It’s easy for me to change my body language (for example, eye contact or posture) to suit people from a different culture.

__________

I can alter my expression when a cultural encounter requires it.

__________

I modify my speech style (for example, accent or tone) to suit people from a different culture.

+ __________ I easily change the way I act when a cross-cultural encounter seems to require it.

Total __________ ÷ 4 = __________ Physical CQ

2

__________

I have confidence that I can deal well with people from a different culture.

__________

I am certain that I can befriend people whose cultural backgrounds are different from mine.

__________

I can adapt to the lifestyle of a different culture with relative ease.

+ __________ I am confident that I can deal with a cultural situation that’s unfamiliar.

Total __________ ÷ 4 = __________ Emotional / motivational CQ

________________________________________________________________

Earley, P. C. and Mosakowski, E. (2004, October) Cultural Intelligence. Harvard

Business Review, 139–146.

CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT

Cultural Intelligence by P. Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski From the October 2004 Issue

You see them at international airports like Heathrow: posters advertising the global bank HSBC that show a grasshopper and the message “USA—Pest. China—Pet. Northern Thailand—Appetizer.”

Taxonomists pinned down the scientific definition of the family Acrididae more than two centuries ago. But culture is so powerful it can affect how even a lowly insect is perceived. So it should come as no surprise that the human actions, gestures, and speech patterns a person encounters in a foreign business setting are subject to an even wider range of interpretations, including ones that can make misunderstandings likely and cooperation impossible. But occasionally an outsider has a seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures in just the way that person’s compatriots and colleagues would, even to mirror them. We call that cultural intelligence or CQ. In a world where crossing boundaries is routine, CQ becomes a vitally important aptitude and skill, and not just for international bankers and borrowers.

Companies, too, have cultures, often very distinctive; anyone who joins a new company spends the first few weeks deciphering its cultural code. Within any large company there are sparring subcultures as well: The sales force can’t talk to the engineers, and the PR people lose patience with the lawyers. Departments,

Cultural intelligence: an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would.

divisions, professions, geographical regions—each has a constellation of manners, meanings, histories, and values that will confuse the interloper and cause him or her to stumble. Unless, that is, he or she has a high CQ.

Cultural intelligence is related to emotional intelligence, but it picks up where emotional intelligence leaves off. A person with high emotional intelligence grasps what makes us human and at the same time what makes each of us different from one another. A person with high cultural intelligence can somehow tease out of a person’s or group’s behavior those features that would be true of all people and all groups, those peculiar to this person or this group, and those that are neither universal nor idiosyncratic. The vast realm that lies between those two poles is culture.

An American expatriate manager we know had his cultural intelligence tested while serving on a design team that included two German engineers. As other team members floated their ideas, the engineers condemned them repeatedly as stunted or immature or worse. The manager concluded that Germans in general are rude and aggressive.

A modicum of cultural intelligence would have helped the American realize he was mistakenly equating the merit of an idea with the merit of the person presenting it and that the Germans were able to make a sharp distinction between the two. A manager with even subtler powers of discernment might have tried to determine how much of the two Germans’ behavior was arguably German and how much was explained by the fact that they were engineers.

An expatriate manager who was merely emotionally intelligent would probably have empathized with the team members whose ideas were being criticized, modulated his or her spontaneous reaction to the engineers’ conduct, and proposed a new style of discussion that preserved candor but spared feelings, if indeed anyone’s feelings had been hurt. But without being able to tell how much of the

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engineers’ behavior was idiosyncratic and how much was culturally determined, he or she would not have known how to influence their actions or how easy it would be to do that.

One critical element that cultural intelligence and emotional intelligence do share is, in psychologist Daniel Goleman’s words, “a propensity to suspend judgment —to think before acting.” For someone richly endowed with CQ, the suspension might take hours or days, while someone with low CQ might have to take weeks or

months. In either case, it involves using your senses to register all the ways that the personalities interacting in front of you are different from those in your home culture yet similar to one another. Only when conduct you have actually observed begins to settle into patterns can you safely begin to anticipate how these people will react in the next situation. The inferences you draw in this manner will be free of the hazards of stereotyping.

The people who are socially the most successful among their peers often have the greatest difficulty making sense of, and then being accepted by, cultural strangers. Those who fully embody the habits and norms of their native culture may be the most alien when they enter a culture not their own. Sometimes, people who are somewhat detached from their own culture can more easily adopt the mores and even the body language of an unfamiliar host. They’re used to being observers and making a conscious effort to fit in.

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Managing Across Cultures Book  24.95

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People who are somewhat detached from their own culture can more easily adopt the mores and even the body language of an unfamiliar host.

Although some aspects of cultural intelligence are innate, anyone reasonably alert, motivated, and poised can attain an acceptable level of cultural intelligence, as we have learned from surveying 2,000 managers in 60 countries and training many others. Given the number of cross-functional assignments, job transfers, new employers, and distant postings most corporate managers are likely to experience in the course of a career, low CQ can turn out to be an inherent disadvantage.

The Three Sources of Cultural Intelligence Can it really be that some managers are socially intelligent in their own settings but ineffective in culturally novel ones? The experience of Peter, a sales manager at a California medical devices group acquired by Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals, is not unusual. At the devices company, the atmosphere had been mercenary and competitive; the best-performing employees could make as much in performance bonuses as in salary. Senior managers hounded unproductive salespeople to perform better.

At Lilly’s Indianapolis headquarters, to which Peter was transferred, the sales staff received bonuses that accounted for only a small percentage of total compensation. Furthermore, criticism was restrained and confrontation kept to a minimum. To motivate people, Lilly management encouraged them. Peter commented, “Back in L.A., I knew how to handle myself and how to manage my sales team. I’d push them and confront them if they weren’t performing, and they’d respond. If you look at my evaluations, you’ll see that I was very successful and people respected me. Here in Indianapolis, they don’t like my style, and they seem to avoid the challenges that I put to them. I just can’t seem to get things done as well here as I did in California.”

Peter’s problem was threefold. First, he didn’t comprehend how much the landscape had changed. Second, he was unable to make his behavior consistent with that of everyone around him. And third, when he recognized that the arrangement wasn’t working, he became disheartened.

Peter’s three difficulties correspond to the three components of cultural intelligence: the cognitive; the physical; and the emotional/motivational. Cultural intelligence resides in the body and the heart, as well as the head. Although most managers are not equally strong in all three areas, each faculty is seriously hampered without the other two.

Head. Rote learning about the beliefs, customs, and taboos of foreign cultures, the approach corporate training programs tend to favor, will never prepare a person for every situation that arises, nor will it prevent terrible gaffes. However, inquiring about the meaning of some custom will often prove unavailing because natives may be reticent about explaining themselves to strangers, or they may have little practice looking at their own culture analytically.

Instead, a newcomer needs to devise what we call learning strategies. Although most people find it difficult to discover a point of entry into alien cultures, whose very coherence can make them seem like separate, parallel worlds, an individual with high cognitive CQ notices clues to a culture’s shared understandings. These can appear in any form and any context but somehow indicate a line of interpretation worth pursuing.

An Irish manager at an international advertising firm was working with a new client, a German construction and engineering company. Devin’s experience with executives in the German retail clothing industry was that they were reasonably flexible about deadlines and receptive to highly imaginative proposals for an advertising campaign. He had also worked with executives of a British construction and engineering company, whom he found to be strict about deadlines and intent on a media campaign that stressed the firm’s technical expertise and the cost savings it offered.

Devin was unsure how to proceed. Should he assume that the German construction company would take after the German clothing retailer or, instead, the British construction company? He resolved to observe the new client’s representative closely and draw general conclusions about the firm and its culture from his behavior, just as he had done in the other two cases. Unfortunately, the client sent a new representative to every meeting. Many came from different business units and had grown up in different countries. Instead of equating the first representative’s behavior with the client’s corporate culture, Devin looked for consistencies in the various individuals’ traits. Eventually he determined that they were all punctual, deadline-oriented, and tolerant of unconventional advertising messages. From that, he was able to infer much about the character of their employer.

Body. You will not disarm your foreign hosts, guests, or colleagues simply by showing you understand their culture; your actions and demeanor must prove that you have already to some extent entered their world. Whether it’s the way you shake hands or order a coffee, evidence of an ability to mirror the customs and gestures of the people around you will prove that you esteem them well enough to want to be like them. By adopting people’s habits and mannerisms, you eventually come to understand in the most elemental way what it is like to be them. They, in turn, become more trusting and open. University of Michigan professor Jeffrey Sanchez- Burks’s research on cultural barriers in business found that job candidates who adopted some of the mannerisms of recruiters with cultural backgrounds different from their own were more likely to be made an offer.

This won’t happen if a person suffers from a deep-seated reservation about the called-for behavior or lacks the physical poise to pull it off. Henri, a French manager at Aegis, a media corporation, followed the national custom of greeting his female

You will not disarm your foreign hosts simply by showing you understand their culture; your actions must prove that you have entered their world.

clients with a hug and a kiss on both cheeks. Although Melanie, a British aerospace manager, understood that in France such familiarity was de rigueur in a professional setting, she couldn’t suppress her discomfort when it happened to her, and she recoiled. Inability to receive and reciprocate gestures that are culturally characteristic reflects a low level of cultural intelligence’s physical component.

In another instance, a Hispanic community leader in Los Angeles and an Anglo- American businessman fell into conversation at a charity event. As the former moved closer, the latter backed away. It took nearly 30 minutes of waltzing around the room for the community leader to realize that “Anglos” were not comfortable standing in such close physical proximity.

Heart. Adapting to a new culture involves overcoming obstacles and setbacks. People can do that only if they believe in their own efficacy. If they persevered in the face of challenging situations in the past, their confidence grew. Confidence is always rooted in mastery of a particular task or set of circumstances.

A person who doesn’t believe herself capable of understanding people from unfamiliar cultures will often give up after her efforts meet with hostility or incomprehension. By contrast, a person with high motivation will, upon confronting obstacles, setbacks, or even failure, reengage with greater vigor. To stay motivated, highly efficacious people do not depend on obtaining rewards, which may be unconventional or long delayed.

Hyong Moon had experience leading racially mixed teams of designers at GM, but when he headed up a product design and development team that included representatives from the sales, production, marketing, R&D, engineering, and finance departments, things did not go smoothly. The sales manager, for example, objected to the safety engineer’s attempt to add features such as side-impact air bags because they would boost the car’s price excessively. The conflict became so intense and so public that a senior manager had to intervene. Although many

managers would have felt chastened after that, Moon struggled even harder to gain control, which he eventually did by convincing the sales manager that the air bags could make the car more marketable. Although he had no experience with cross- functional teams, his successes with single-function teams had given him the confidence to persevere. He commented, “I’d seen these types of disagreements in other teams, and I’d been able to help team members overcome their differences, so I knew I could do it again.”

How Head, Body, and Heart Work Together At the end of 1997, U.S.-based Merrill Lynch acquired UK-based Mercury Asset Management. At the time of the merger, Mercury was a decorous, understated, hierarchical company known for doing business in the manner of an earlier generation. Merrill, by contrast, was informal, fast-paced, aggressive, and entrepreneurial. Both companies had employees of many nationalities. Visiting Mercury about six months after the merger announcement, we were greeted by Chris, a Mercury personnel manager dressed in khakis and a knit shirt. Surprised by the deviation from his usual uniform of gray or navy pinstripes, we asked him what had happened. He told us that Merrill had instituted casual Fridays in its own offices and then extended the policy on a volunteer basis to its UK sites.

Chris understood the policy as Merrill’s attempt to reduce hierarchical distinctions both within and between the companies. The intention, he thought, was to draw the two enterprises closer together. Chris also identified a liking for casual dress as probably an American cultural trait.

Not all Mercury managers were receptive to the change, however. Some went along with casual Fridays for a few weeks, then gave up. Others never doffed their more formal attire, viewing the new policy as a victory of carelessness over prudence and an attempt by Merrill to impose its identity on Mercury, whose professional dignity would suffer as a result. In short, the Mercury resisters did not understand the impulse behind the change (head); they could not bring themselves to alter their

appearance (body); and they had been in the Mercury environment for so long that they lacked the motivation (heart) to see the experiment through. To put it even more simply, they dreaded being mistaken for Merrill executives.

How would you behave in a similar situation? The exhibit “Diagnosing Your Cultural Intelligence” allows you to assess the three facets of your own cultural intelligence and learn where your relative strengths and weaknesses lie. Attaining a high absolute score is not the objective.

Diagnosing Your Cultural Intelligence

Cultural Intelligence Profiles Most managers fit at least one of the following six profiles. By answering the questions in the exhibit, you can decide which one describes you best.

The provincial can be quite effective when working with people of similar background but runs into trouble when venturing farther afield. A young engineer at Chevrolet’s truck division received positive evaluations of his technical abilities as well as his interpersonal skills. Soon he was asked to lead a team at Saturn, an autonomous division of GM. He was not able to adjust to Saturn’s highly participative approach to teamwork—he mistakenly assumed it would be as orderly and deferential as Chevy’s. Eventually, he was sent back to Chevy’s truck division.

The analyst methodically deciphers a foreign culture’s rules and expectations by resorting to a variety of elaborate learning strategies. The most common form of analyst realizes pretty quickly he is in alien territory but then ascertains, usually in stages, the nature of the patterns at work and how he should interact with them. Deirdre, for example, works as a broadcast director for a London-based company. Her principal responsibility is negotiating contracts with broadcast media owners. In June 2002, her company decided that all units should adopt a single negotiating strategy, and it was Deirdre’s job to make sure this happened. Instead of forcing a showdown with the managers who resisted, she held one-on-one meetings in which she probed their reasons for resisting, got them together to share ideas, and revised the negotiating strategy to incorporate approaches they had found successful. The revised strategy was more culturally flexible than the original proposal—and the managers chose to cooperate.

The natural relies entirely on his intuition rather than on a systematic learning style. He is rarely steered wrong by first impressions. Donald, a brand manager for Unilever, commented, “As part of my job, I need to judge people from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds and understand their needs quickly. When I come into a new situation, I watch everyone for a few minutes and then I get a general sense of what is going on and how I need to act. I’m not really sure how I do it, but it seems to work.” When facing ambiguous multicultural situations that he must take control of, the natural may falter because he has never had to improvise learning strategies or cope with feelings of disorientation.

The ambassador, like many political appointees, may not know much about the culture he has just entered, but he convincingly communicates his certainty that he belongs there. Among the managers of multinational companies we have studied, the ambassador is the most common type. His confidence is a very powerful component of his cultural intelligence. Some of it may be derived from watching how other managers have succeeded in comparable situations. The ambassador must have the humility to know what he doesn’t know—that is, to know how to avoid underestimating cultural differences, even though doing so will inflict a degree of discomfort.

The mimic has a high degree of control over his actions and behavior, if not a great deal of insight into the significance of the cultural cues he picks up. Mimicry definitely puts hosts and guests at ease, facilitates communication, and builds trust. Mimicry is not, however, the same as pure imitation, which can be interpreted as mocking. Ming, a manager at the Shanghai regional power authority, relates, “When I deal with foreigners, I try to adopt their style of speaking and interacting. I find that simple things like keeping the right distance from the other person or making eye contact or speaking English at a speed that matches the other person’s puts them at ease and makes it easier to make a connection. This really makes a difference to newcomers to China because they often are a bit threatened by the place.”

The chameleon possesses high levels of all three CQ components and is a very uncommon managerial type. He or she even may be mistaken for a native of the country. More important, chameleons don’t generate any of the ripples that unassimilated foreigners inevitably do. Some are able to achieve results that natives cannot, due to their insider’s skills and outsider’s perspective. We found that only about 5% of the managers we surveyed belonged in this remarkable category.

One of them is Nigel, a British entrepreneur who has started businesses in Australia, France, and Germany. The son of diplomats, Nigel grew up all over the world. Most of his childhood, however, was spent in Saudi Arabia. After several successes of his own, some venture capitalists asked him to represent them in dealings with the founder of a money-losing Pakistani start-up.

To the founder, his company existed chiefly to employ members of his extended family and, secondarily, the citizens of Lahore. The VCs, naturally, had a different idea. They were tired of losses and wanted Nigel to persuade the founder to close down the business.

Upon relocating to Lahore, Nigel realized that the interests of family and community were not aligned. So he called in several community leaders, who agreed to meet with managers and try to convince them that the larger community of Lahore would be hurt if potential investors came to view it as full of businesspeople unconcerned with a company’s solvency. Nigel’s Saudi upbringing had made him aware of Islamic principles of personal responsibility to the wider community, while his British origins tempered what in another person’s hands might have been the mechanical application of those tenets. Throughout the negotiations, he displayed an authoritative style appropriate to the Pakistani setting. In relatively short order, the managers and the family agreed to terminate operations.

Many managers, of course, are a hybrid of two or more of the types. We discovered in our survey of more than 2,000 managers that even more prevalent than the ambassador was a hybrid of that type and the analyst. One example was a female African-American manager in Cairo named Brenda, who was insulted when a small group of young, well-meaning Egyptian males greeted her with a phrase they’d learned from rap music.

“I turned on my heel, went right up to the group and began upbraiding them as strongly as my Arabic would allow,” she said. “When I’d had my say, I stormed off to meet a friend.”

“After I had walked about half a block, I registered the shocked look on their faces as they listened to my words. I then realized they must have thought they were greeting me in a friendly way. So I went back to talk to the group. They asked me why I was so angry, I explained, they apologized profusely, and we all sat down and had tea and an interesting talk about how the wrong words can easily cause trouble. During our conversation, I brought up a number of examples of how Arabic expressions uttered in the wrong way or by the wrong person could spark an equivalent reaction in them. After spending about an hour with them, I had some new friends.”

Brenda’s narrative illustrates the complexities and the perils of cross-cultural interactions. The young men had provoked her by trying, ineptly, to ingratiate themselves by using a bit of current slang from her native land. Forgetting in her anger that she was the stranger, she berated them for what was an act of cultural ignorance, not malice. Culturally uninformed mimicry got the young men in trouble; Brenda’s—and the men’s—cognitive flexibility and willingness to reengage got them out of it.

Cultivating Your Cultural Intelligence Unlike other aspects of personality, cultural intelligence can be developed in psychologically healthy and professionally competent people. In our work with Deutsche Bank, we introduced a program to improve managers’ work relationships with outsourcing partners in India. We developed a two-and-a-half day program that first identified a participant’s strengths and weaknesses and then provided a series of steps, which we outline below, to enhance their CQ.

Step 1.

The individual examines his CQ strengths and weaknesses in order to establish a starting point for subsequent development efforts. Our self-assessment instrument is one approach, but there are others, such as an assessment of a person’s behavior in a simulated business encounter and 360-degree feedback on a person’s past behavior in an actual situation. Hughes Electronics, for example, staged a cocktail party to evaluate an expatriate manager’s grasp of South Korean social etiquette. Ideally, a manager will undergo a variety of assessments.

Step 2. The person selects training that focuses on her weaknesses. For example, someone lacking physical CQ might enroll in acting classes. Someone lacking cognitive CQ might work on developing his analogical and inductive reasoning—by, for example, reading several business case studies and distilling their common principles.

Step 3. The general training set out above is applied. If motivational CQ is low, a person might be given a series of simple exercises to perform, such as finding out where to buy a newspaper or greeting someone who has arrived to be interviewed. Mastering simple activities such as greetings or transactions with local shopkeepers establishes a solid base from which to move into more demanding activities, such as giving an employee a performance appraisal.

Step 4. The individual organizes her personal resources to support the approach she has chosen. Are there people at her organization with the skills to conduct this training, and does her work unit provide support for it? A realistic assessment of her workload and the time available for CQ enhancement is important.

Step 5. The person enters the cultural setting he needs to master. He coordinates his plans with others, basing them on his CQ strengths and remaining weaknesses. If his strength is mimicry, for example, he would be among the first in his training group

to venture forth. If his strength is analysis, he would first want to observe events unfold and then explain to the others why they followed the pattern they did.

Step 6. The individual reevaluates her newly developed skills and how effective they have been in the new setting, perhaps after collecting 360-degree feedback from colleagues individually or eavesdropping on a casual focus group that was formed to discuss her progress. She may decide to undergo further training in specific areas.

In the sidebar “Confidence Training,” we describe how we applied these six steps to the case of Helmut, one of five German managers we helped at their employer’s behest as they coped with new assignments within and outside of Germany.

Confidence Training Helmut was a manager at a Berlin- based high-tech company who participated in our cultural-intelligence training program at London Business School. Three months earlier, he had been assigned to a large manufacturing facility in southern Germany to supervise the completion of a new plant and guide the local staff through the launch. Helmut came from northern Germany and had never worked in southern Germany; his direct reports had been raised in southern Germany and had worked for the local business unit for an average of seven years.

Helmut was good at developing new learning strategies, and he wasn’t bad at adapting his behavior to his surroundings. But he had low confidence in his ability to cope with his new colleagues. To him, southern Germans were essentially foreigners; he found them “loud, brash, and cliquish.”

To capitalize on his resourcefulness and build his confidence, we placed Helmut in heterogeneous groups of people, whom we encouraged to engage in freewheeling discussions. We also encouraged him to express his emotions more openly, in the manner of his southern compatriots, and to make more direct eye contact in the course of role-playing exercises.

Helmut’s resourcefulness might have impelled him to take on more ambitious tasks than he could quite handle. It was important he get his footing first, so that some subsequent reversal would not paralyze him. To enhance his motivational CQ, we asked him to list ten activities he thought would be part of his daily or weekly routine when he returned to Munich.

By the time Helmut returned to London for his second training session, he had proved to himself he could manage simple encounters like getting a coffee, shopping, and having a drink with colleagues. So we suggested he might be ready for more challenging tasks, such as providing face-to-face personnel appraisals. Even though Helmut was skilled at analyzing people’s behavior, he doubted he was equal to this next set of hurdles. We encouraged him to view his analytic skills as giving him an important advantage. For example, Helmut had noticed that Bavarians were extroverted only with people familiar to them. With strangers they could be as formal as any Prussian. Realizing this allowed him to respond flexibly to either situation instead of being put off balance.

By the time he was asked to lead a quality-improvement team, he had concluded that his leadership style must unfold in two stages— commanding at the outset, then more personal and inclusive. On his third visit to London, Helmut reported good

relations with the quality improvement team, and the members corroborated his assessment.

• • •

Why can some people act appropriately and effectively in new cultures or among people with unfamiliar backgrounds while others flounder? Our anecdotal and empirical evidence suggests that the answer doesn’t lie in tacit knowledge or in emotional or social intelligence. But a person with high CQ, whether cultivated or innate, can understand and master such situations, persevere, and do the right thing when needed.

A version of this article appeared in the October 2004 issue of Harvard Business Review.

P. Christopher Earley is a professor and the chair of the department of organizational behavior at London Business School.

Elaine Mosakowski is a professor of management at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

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2. undefined_2: 5
3. undefined_3: 4
4. undefined_4: 4
5. Total: 16
6. 4: 4
7. undefined_5: 5
8. undefined_6: 2
9. undefined_7: 3
10. undefined_8: 4
11. Total_2: 14
12. 4_2: 3.5
13. undefined_9: 5
14. undefined_10: 5
15. undefined_11: 4
16. undefined_12: 4
17. Total_3: 18
18. 4_3: 4.5

VIRGINIA MEATS, INC.

History Virginia Meats, Inc. (VMI) started in 1864 in the small town of Shipley, England, with the purchase of a crate of oranges. Founder George Morris grew up in poverty, a chimney sweep by trade. In 1864, at the age of 39, he and his wife received a small inheritance about sixty English Pounds. After paying their debts, they were left with just a tiny sum, with which George purchased a small parcel of oranges from a canal boat. He quickly took his fruit to the local open-air street markets, and from this small beginning George Morris became a thriving fruit merchant. The business thrived and soon became the Morris Wholesale Food Company having moved to Liverpool for the expansion. Having two sons Morris encouraged them both to take over the business. In 1884 the oldest son Joseph Morris began to work with his father and five years later, after leaving Oxford, his youngest son John entered the business as well. The competition between the boys for control of the operations began to take a toll on George. Hoping to retire soon and have the business grow George leapt at the opportunity to open an American branch when his younger son John came to him with the idea. John had heard that one of their imported ham vendors was opting to sell his company. Located in a small Virginia town of Littlefield the company was a successful meat exporter and growing meat supplier to American customers. Specializing in pork products, Littlefield hams began exporting their cured hams to England as a specialty food. Morris and Sons had picked the brand up to sell to places like Harrods and Fortnum and Mason, high end food purveyors because of its unique smoke flavor and salty taste. It proved to be a good seller. John had visited and worked in the factory during his summer breaks at Oxford because he loved America and the Hams. John’s proposal to his father was simple. He would move to America buy the business in Littlefield and begin to develop products for sale in America and increase the export business as well. John would oversee the division and his brother would have charge of Liverpool.

In 1890 at the age of 27 John Morris and his new wife moved to their new home Littlefield, Virginia USA. In subsequent years the Morris family grew in America with the addition of three children to John’s family and Joseph having two children.

George passed away in 1894 leaving Joseph to continue running the Liverpool concern. However, the competition in the wholesale food business was harder to beat. While the Liverpool branch was solvent, it was showing stagnant sales except for the luxury imports. In 1902 Joseph downsized the Liverpool branch and specialized in importing luxury foods. The America branch was doing very well and could absorb the change in company profile. Morris and Sons continued to prosper. At the outbreak of WWI the Company was doing well but Joseph had declining health. His one son who had just entered the business was conscripted into service and was deployed to France. Joseph took his daughter’s son-in-law into the business temporarily. One year later his son was killed at Marne. The son-in-law, Harrison Smythe, took over the branch with the consent and help of John.

During John Morris's tenure as president of Morris and sons, the most notable development in the company's history was the growth of its export business during World War I. Because Morris was founded in England its American branch, had long been involved in shipping pork products, especially bacon, to England. Morris had been the largest American exporter of meat products to England before the war, and the war and immediate postwar years saw continued growth. In addition, Morris also exported meat products and lard to France, Denmark, Holland, Switzerland, and Italy during the war.

In the subsequent years the Company in America took over all operations and expanded through the acquisition of several local Littlefield competitors. In 1968 the brothers moved the headquarters, to Richmond because of the need for a greater labor pool. The original business stayed in Littlefield, but additional slaughter and packing operations were erected outside Richmond. In 1970 the company was slaughtering 3,000 hogs a day and employed 1,400 people.

Eager to expand the business from a regional Virginia concern the company went public in 1994 but kept the controlling stock. Determined to keep the company within the family, John’s great grandson Vance Morris took over the business in 2003 upon the death of his father. He controlled 65% of the stock with other family members owning a total of 20%.

In 2017, at the time of Vance Morris’ unexpected death, the company was slaughtering 15 million hogs annually with revenues of 2.245 billion dollars.

Current Company Vision: Bringing quality meats to family tables everywhere.

Current Mission: We believe that family and tradition matter. Virginia Meats, Inc. is a family too and because we believe that family matters, it our commitment to put only quality pork products on your kitchen table just as we would our own.

Services Offered

Packaged and Fresh Pork Products

Current Fact Sheet Headquarters Richmond, Virginia USA Worldwide web address www.VirginiaMeats.com Chief Executive Operator Daniel Chinn 2017 Revenue $2.245 billion Employees 12,500 (9,000 U.S.; 3,500 International)

Customers 4,750 (3,008; 1,742 international) Operating Facilities Processing Facilities, Richmond, VA USA; Littlefield, USA;

Winston-Salem, NC USA; Liverpool, England; Sulwaki, Poland Packaging Facilities Richmond, VA USA; Littlefield, VA USA; Frankfort, KT USA

Current Sustainability Commitments VMI has made three major commitments to the planet ecology. First, to offer the best animal care, reduce greenhouse emissions by 23% and maintain better than USDA food safety and quality standards. Current steps to reach these goals include:

Animal Care:

• Each applicable facility to maintain a systematic program for animal care based on the North American Meat Institute’s (NAMI) Recommended Animal Handling Guidelines and Audit Guide

• All live animal suppliers to be certified to National Pork Board's (NPB) Pork Quality Assurance® Plus (PQA® Plus) • Complete conversion to group housing systems for pregnant sows on U.S. company-owned farms by the end of

2017 • Complete conversion to group housing systems for pregnant sows on U.S. contract farms and in joint ventures

worldwide by 2022

Environment:

Reduction of greenhouse emissions by 23%. Processing and reduction of plant waste through conversion to group housing for sows and use of steam sterilization processes for food production.

Food Safety and Quality:

• No incident requiring U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) recalls • Maintain Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) certification at all applicable facilities.

Currently there have been no FDA recalls for the last three years and inspections have been problem free.

Current Business Philosophy As one of the largest worldwide producers of pork products it is the goal of VMI to help improve its international sales. It will now look forward two years as change in business strategy is imperative to keep growing. The need for innovation and competitive edge ideas are the focus for the next two years. Sustainability both for profit and planet is foremost in the minds of the leadership. The development of “green” friendly international delivery strategies will be a main emphasis.

Current Corporate Culture

VMI has always considered their employees to be like family. They value their input in the business and seek to empower them whenever they can. The current company culture is a hierarchical with a functional underpinning. The growth of the company and the need for structure and communication to keep the global deadlines has caused the Directors to move towards a collaborative culture. They hope that the family feel of the clan culture will not be lost hence the hybrid.

Organizational Structure:

This company has a functional division structure. However, within each division is a functional structure whose make up is dependent on its purpose. For instance, if the branch is a meat packing plant where slaughter takes place than its decision-making flow will follow the jobs that are part of the slaughter and packing processes. Communication and decision making still flows from top down.

Current Organizational Structure

Daniel Chinn CEO

Arthur Carney

CFO

Director of Accouting

USA

Branch Managers

Director of International Accounting

USA

Branch Managers

Director of Sales and Marketing

Branch Managers

Jane Meadows

CHR

Director of Benefits

Companywide

Branch Managers

Director of Payroll

Companywide

Branch Managers

Jackie Gleason

CPO

Director of Packaging and

Shipping Companny wide

Branch Managers

Director of SLaughering

Companywide

Branch Managers

Director of Livestock and

Framing USA

Branch Managers

Director ofLivestock and

Farming Internationallyy

Branch Managers

Candidate Positions (Week 3 Brainstorming Discussions) Position 1: Director of North American Sales Location: Headquarters, Richmond, VA, USA Answers to: VP of Headquarter Operations Regional US sales has been the backbone for Virginia Meats, Inc. (VMI) sales since its inception. Sales regionally in North America are still strong, but national sales seem to be running flat in the last two years, and you have heard that the current Director is being pushed into retirement so that new ideas can come to the sales force. The North American sales director's position, while located in the company headquarters, interfaces with the rest of the company globally. It requires a great deal of virtual work coordinating with all other departments and divisions. The current North American sales team is highly diverse and has predominantly women who are "high-flyers." This is a high-profile position but competition from the new company employees (who know the language, etc. is a concern. Position 2: Assistant VP of Headquarter Operations Location: Headquarters, Richmond, VA, USA Answers to: President and CEO The Headquarters houses R&D, Quality Control, HR, IT, Purchasing, and Finance. Each of these departments has its own "subculture," and each department is distinct from each other. The young, youthful subculture of IT often clashes with the conservative subculture of the Finance department, for example. Many of the members of the Finance and HR teams are baby boomers and are near retirement. This leader oversees the smooth operation of all these departments and ensures the coordination of these departments with each other and with each of the four geographic divisions across the world. Position 3: Assistant Director of Human Resources, North American Division Location: Chicago, Illinois Answers to: Director of Human Resources, North American Division In this position, you would assist the Director in HR. This division is seen as the "flagship" by all other divisions because it creates all the policy and sources employees from all divisions of VMI. This Executive Director has the "ear" of the CEO and spends a lot of time with the executive staff. This leader is faced with spearheading the future direction of HR and is challenged with filling openings throughout the United States and Canada caused by fast growth and a retiring Baby Boomer population. You have heard

that this director is a Type A personality and can be very demanding. This Director has his finger on everything and is vying for the CEO position should it become vacant in the future. Position 4: Director of Production Europe Location: Headquarters, Wiesbaden, Germany Answers to: VP of Headquarter Operations This leader oversees the day-to-day operations of the production department. This leader is expected to aid in strategic planning with the executive team. This person is expected to bring a conservative approach to the strategic planning table, to balance out the high-risk tolerance of the rest of the leadership at VMI. A "big picture" perspective is needed here.

BMGT 464 Week 3 Assignment Criteria

Topic: Where is the best place for you in the VMI team? Virginia Meats has hired you to take one of four open managerial positions. During this period of your onboarding into the company, Mr. Chinn, the CEO, is assessing the position for which you will bring the greatest strengths. He has asked HR to provide him with a series of tests that will aid him in assessing your placement. A short job description for each of the open positions is also provided. Since you are familiar with these positions and their roles from your orientation, you realize these tests will not only tell Chinn the job for which you are best suited, but also will enlighten you as well. This self-knowledge may give you a better idea of your fittedness and likelihood of gaining the position. Directions: 1. By THURSDAY, complete the following:

• See the steps set out below and complete the table and explanation of the results. • You must use course material to support your responses and APA in-text citations with a reference list.

2. THROUGHOUT the week, complete the following: • Respond to your classmates three or more days throughout the week. Remember you are trying to develop the

best answers possible to the questions. Your classmates are doing the same so read the posts carefully looking for the best ideas being presented. The goal is that by the end of the week the class will come to some consensus as to the best answers giving you the chance to submit the best ideas in the final post.

• You must use course material to support your responses but you do not need to use APA in the brainstorming discussion with the exception of Friday's initial first impression post.

• Participation is worth 2.5 points each week (20% of the final grade). Participation must be reflected in the final post so grades will be affected by the content portion of the post if participation is not shown. Therefore, it is important to get in the class often and with the idea of improving your initial post with the discussion so that the final grade will be the best you can deliver. 3. FINAL POST, complete the following:

• Attach your final post in the classroom by SATURDAY at 11:59 p.m. ET.

• The final post must reflect the brainstorming activities and should be different than your Friday initial post. • The final post must include a variety of sources from the class material as well as the use of scenario or case

study facts where appropriate. • It must USE APA in-text citations and reference list.

Steps for Completion of the Assignment: Step 1. Below you will find the instruction “Skill Assessment Chart & Quiz Links”. Take all of the quizzes found in the list. Step 2. You will report your results by creating a Word document and include this table. You will identify the type of quiz, list all component scores and then answer the implication questions. These questions are found in the “Skill Assessment Chart & Quiz Links” instruction. Do not copy or summarize from the explanations given by the test website. Instead, with that explanation in mind as it pertains to your own traits and behaviors, answer the questions concisely.

Type of Quiz Quiz Taken and Results (list all components)

Implication Question Answers

Step 3. In your report, this table will be followed by a 2-page summary (singled spaced) in which you explain your results and select the position or positions for which you will be the best fit. The final report should be organized as follows:

1. a brief introduction naming the position for which you are applying 2. the completed table 3. a discussion of quiz results that explains ‘you’ by integrating the results with our knowledge base (learning

materials) from weeks 1-3, primarily week 3 readings. Rather than rehashing from the test websites or your answers in the table, you will be demonstrating your understanding of the meaning of these results as explained by our theories and concepts in required readings.

4. the analysis of the job for which you are applying. Address the job or jobs that best fit you and/or the one you want and your reasons for the selection. In that discourse, you will explain how the test results indicate your fittedness for the role. Our required readings will provide the theories for you to prove your understanding of trait-related behaviors. In this write-up, it should also be clear how you will affect the two types of performance and affective commitment of the organization. Either in the job analysis or a final conclusion, address the effectiveness of your selection for the organization.

The Scenario:

You are still a newly hired manager at PRU. Your onboarding is being personally overseen by the CEO Daniel Chinn. As part of getting to know you, he instructed HR to give you four personality assessments. You will be writing up a report with your assessment results in the table, discussion of those results, and then discussion of the four open job positions. You’ll be explaining to him how both strengths and weaknesses render you a good fit for one of these jobs, while also explaining your lesser ‘fit’ into the other three positions. When reading the job descriptions, keep in mind our PRU profile information as well as your own vision for PRU that you have been developing in previous weeks. We are still trying to prepare PRU for the future, retain the familial qualities of its culture, and develop a learning organization within it.

Logically, the discussion of your results should be within the knowledge base given by our readings this week and aided by previous weeks (such as that of generational cohorts and the learning organization). You will want to avoid rehashing the website explanations. Instead, reason through results by showing connections between them as well as how it connects with our theories.

This, then, prepares you to promote yourself for the position best suited while objectively explaining your weakness for the other positions. Be sure to demonstrate what you know rather than talking about how great you are. ����

Composition:

Approach and perspective: Keep in mind this is an analytical business report not an academic writing assignment. In a typical academic paper, you would research the library and summarize the articles about the topics studied. In contrast, a business report is analytical (single space). Do not summarize our learning materials or the testing websites. Instead, get to your point, make your point, and prove your point. You will state your point (the point sentence in a paragraph). Explain it (this is where using key facts from the case are helpful) and then prove it using our required course content from the classroom. Give in-text citation.

Voice:

In this assignment, you are presenting yourself as an objective, reasonable professional. You will need to use first person "I" when appropriate to speak about yourself. At all other times, write objectively in

third person voice. There should be no opinion statements such as "I think" or "In my opinion." Write objectively and analytically yet refer to yourself when you are the subject (e.g. "The results indicate I...").