Chap 9 Basic Elements of Individual Behavior in Organizations

 Psychological Contract
- Overall set of expectation on returns between individual and organization working together
- Less formal and well defined than standard legal contract
 Contribution
- What individual provides to the organization
- Effort, skills, time, ability, loyalty, competencies
 Inducements
- What the organization provides to individual
- Pay and benefits (tangible rewards); career opportunities, status, promotion
 Person Job Fit
- Extent of matching of the value between contributions and inducements
- Seldom achieved due to:
a) imperfect organizational selection
b) changes on both individual and org
c) “Each individual is unique”
Personality and Individual Behavior

 Individual differences
- Personal attributes that vary between people
- Makes us unique
 Personality
- Stable set of psychological and behavioral attributes
- Distinguishes people form one or another

Big Five Model of Personality

- Popular personality framework

a) Agreeableness
- Ability to get along with others
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b) Conscientiousness
- Ability to manage multiple task and meet deadlines

c) Neuroticism
- Extend to which a person experiences anxiety or is poised, calm, resilient, and secure

d) Extraversion
- Person’s comfort level with relationships
- Extraverts
o Social, talkative, assertive, and open
o Tend to be higher overall job performers

e) Openness
- Person’s rigidity of beliefs and range of interest.
- Individual’s willingness to accept change
Myer-Briggs Framework
4 General Dimensions:
a) Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I)
Extraverts – around other people Introversion – prefer solitude, worn out by others

b) Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N)

Sensing – prefers concrete things Intuition – prefer abstract concepts

c) Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F)

Thinking – logic and reason Feeling – feelings and emotion

d) Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P)

Judging – enjoy completion or being finished Perceiving – enjoy process and open-ended situation

 Myer-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

- Useful method for determining communication styles and interaction preferences

Other Personality Traits at Work

a) Locus of control
- Believe that his or her behavior has a direct impact on the consequences
1. Internal locus of control
o Believe that they control their future
2. External locus of control
o Believe that their future is dictated by fate

b) Self-Efficacy
- Beliefs about his or her capabilities to perform a task

c) Authoritarianism
- Believe on difference of power between social hierarchy

d) Machiavellianism
- Gaining power - controlling the behavior of others - tend to be rational and unemotional

e) Self-esteem
- Belief of being a worthwhile and deserving individual

f) Risk Propensity
- Willingness to take chances and risky decisions

 Emotional Intelligence
- Extend of people having these dimensions:

c) Self-Awareness a) Empathy
- Capacity of being aware of their feelings - Ability to understand other’s
d) Managing emotions feelings
- Capacity to balance anxiety, fear, and anger b) Social Skill
e) Motivating oneself - Ability to get along with others
- Ability to remain optimistic and to continue striving and establish positive relationships
Attitudes and Individual Behavior

 Attitude
- Beliefs and feelings about certain specific ideas

3 Components of Attitude
a) Affective component c) Intentional Component
- Reflects feelings and emotions - Reflects how an indiv. behaves in a situation
b) Cognitive Component
- Derived from the knowledge an indiv. has

 Cognitive Dissonance
- Conflicting attitudes of an indiv

Work Related Attitudes

a) Job Satisfaction or Dissatisfaction
- Gratification or fulfillment in his or her work - determined by personal factors

b) Organizational Commitment
- Attachment of the individual with the company

c) Positive affectivity
- Tendency to be upbeat and optimistic - good mood

d) Negative affectivity
- Tendency to be downbeat and pessimistic - bad mood

Perception and Individual Behavior

 Basic Perception Processes

Perception
o Set of processes to become aware of and interpret info about envi.
a) Selective Perception
- Screening out info that we contradict our beliefs

b) Stereotyping
- Categorizing people with a basis of single attribute
 Perception and Attribution
Attribution
o Process of observing behavior and attributing causes to it
o Closely link with perception

Consensus
o behave same way in a same situation

Consistency
o behave same way in different times

Distinctiveness
 o behave same way in other situations

Stress and Individual Behavior

Stress

- response to a stimulus called stressor

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

- general cycle of the stress process

I. Stage I Alarm
o Panic and alarm, resistance to stress drops
II. Stage II Resistance
o Effort to control stress
III. Stage III Exhaustion
o Giving up and quit

Type A

- Extremely competitive, have sense of urgency

Type B

- Less competitive, weaker sense of urgency

Causes of Work Stress

a) Task Demands
o Quick decisions, incomplete info for decision, critical decisions
b) Physical Demands
o Poor Environmental conditions, threat to health
c) Role Demands
o Role conflict, role ambiguity
d) Interpersonal Demands
o Group pressure, Leadership styles, Conflict personalities

Consequences of Stress

- Decline in health
- Decline in morale, job satisfaction, commitment
- Burnout
o Exhaustion due to long period of stress

Managing Stress
a) Exercise b) Relaxation c) Support groups
Creativity

- Ability to generate new ideas or to conceive of new perspective on existing ideas

Creative Attributes
a) Background Experiences and Creativity
- Raised in environment where creativity is nurtured
b) Personal Traits
- Linked to creativity
c) Cognitive Abilities
- Thinking intelligently and to analyze situation
Convergent – allows people to see similarities among situations
Divergent – allows people to see differences among situations
The Creative Process
1. Preparation
- formal education and training
2. Incubation
- period of less intense conscious concentration, break
3. Insight
- spontaneous breakthrough
4. Verification
- determines the validity of insight (3) - may include scientific experiments and development of prototypes
Enhancing Creativity in Orgs.

- Through making it a part of organization culture

- Rewarding creative success

Types of Workplace Behaviors

Workplace Behavior

- Pattern of action that direct or indirectly influences organizational effectiveness

Performance Behavior

- Total set of work-related behaviors that an indiv expected to display

Withdrawal Behavior

- Absenteeism
o Not showing up in work
- Turnover
o Quitting jobs

Organizational Citizenship

- Positive overall contribution to the org.

Dysfunctional Behaviors

- Detract the organizational performance

- Theft and sabotage, harassment, incivility and rudeness, workplace violence