Managing and

Organizations:
An Introduction
to Theory and
Practice, 6e

© Stewart R. Clegg,
Tyrone S. Pitsis and Matt
Mount
 Chapter 2
Managing individuals
Outline(1 of 2)

• Learning objectives
• Introduction
• Psychology at work
– Psychology and organizational behaviour
– Nature vs. nurture
• Perception at work
– Schemas
– Perceptual errors
– Systems 1 and 2 thinking

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Outline(2 of 2)

• Values
• Personality
– Personality theories: traits, socio-cognitive, humanist
• Positive psychology
– Emotions and happiness

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Learning objectives

• After completing this topic, you will be able to:

– develop an understanding of how psychology contributes
to organizational behaviour
– describe the process of perception and understand how it
can affect performance at work
– outline how values drive individual behaviour
– outline a range of personality theories
– explain how positive psychology can improve people’s
workplaces

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Introduction to psychology and
organizational behaviour
• Introduction to psychology and organizational behaviour
• Psychology
– Psyche, one’s thoughts and feelings
– ‘ology’, the quest for knowledge organized as a field of
study, derived from the Greek logos meaning ‘reason’
• Organizational behaviour
– Concerned with individual, group, and organizational-level
processes and practices that inhibit or enable
organizational performance
– Involves understanding, researching, and addressing
phenomena from a multidisciplinary perspective

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Nature vs. nurture

• Nature
– Is human personality, cognition, and behaviour genetic,
pre-programmed?
• Nurture
– Are human personality, cognition, and behaviour learned,
socialized?
• Survival of the fittest?
– Individual self-interest
– Collective social interest

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Perception at work(1 of 3)

• Perception
– The process of receiving, attending to, processing,
storing, and using stimuli to understand and make sense
of our world
– Stimuli are experiences through all of the senses (sight,
sound, smell, taste and touch)

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Perception at work(2 of 3)

• Schemas
– Sets of cognitive constructs developed through social
interactions that organize thoughts, feelings, and attention
• Types of schema
– Person schemas
– Self-schemas
– Script schemas
– Social schemas
– Role schemas

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• The hamun brian is so azaming, as lnog as the frist and lsat
lteter is the smae yuo wlil mkae snese of tihs snetecne!

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Perception at work(3 of 3)

• Common errors in perception

– Stereotyping: grouping objects into simplistic categories
based on generalizations
– Self-fulfilling prophecy: a belief that comes true because
people behave and act as if it is true
– Halo effect: ascribing positive characteristics to a person
formed in one situation to other situations

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Common errors in perception

• Halo effect: Ascribing certain characteristics to a person

in one situation based on one trait and generalising those
characteristics to that person in other situations and other
traits
• Devil effect: Ascribing negative characteristics to a person
formed in one situation to that person in other situations
• Attribution theory concerns how people attribute the
cause to their own, and other people’s, behaviours

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Types of attribution error

• Internal and external attribution

• Fundamental attribution error
– Using internal attributions when explaining the cause of
the behaviour of others
• Self-serving bias
– Success is due to internal causes and failure due to
external causes
• Cognitive dissonance
– Discomfort caused by holding inconsistent and conflicting
sets of cognition (schemas)

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System 1 and 2 thinking (Daniel
Kahneman)(1 of 2)
System 1
Intuitive: system 1 is intuitive and
automatic in that you have little control
over what you see, hear or feel as you
respond to a stimuli. For example,
reading these words is automatic.
Fast and effortless: system 1 makes
judgments quickly and without much
cognitive effort.
Emotional: system 1 feels and can
make judgements based on these
feelings.
System 2
Deliberate: we must consciously
engage system 2 and think about how
we come to a judgment. For example,
studying is effortful and deliberate.
Slow and effortful: because system 2
is not automatic it requires cognitive
effort and time. Often the conditions
under which we make decisions rarely
allow for time, or we cannot put in the
effort.
Rational: system two ‘thinks’ it’s the
boss and makes rational judgments.
However, it is system 1 that is really
the boss and influences the results of
system to much more than we usually
credit.
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System 1 and 2 thinking (Daniel
Kahneman)(2 of 2)
System 1
Error prone: system 1’s speed and
intuition can be prone to errors under
conditions of uncertainty.
2 + 2 = ? system 2 can instantly and
intrusively make judgements about things
– which allows us to be experts and
proficient.
I like chocolate more than coffee: system
1 often concerns issues of taste and
distinction and can change.
System 2
Lazy: system 2 is lazy and often system 1
dominates because of the cognitive effort
required for system 2 judgments under
uncertainty.
27 x 13 = ? system 2 kicks in when
system 1 cannot readily find the answer or
make a judgment. However, it tends to
‘give up’ or make mistakes because of the
high levels of cognitive resources being
used.
I must make a chocolate soufflé: system 2
often concerns itself with difficult or
complex tasks.
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Values

• Values
– A set of beliefs and goals that serve as guiding principles
in one’s life
– Trans-situational values are consistent and stable across
situations
• Value priorities
– The order of values in terms of importance to one’s life

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 Descriptions of Schwartz’s value types
Achievement Valuing of personal success by demonstrating
one’s competence according to social
standards
Benevolence Preservation and enhancement of the welfare
of people with whom one is in frequent personal
contact
Conformity Restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses
that are likely to upset or harm others and that
might violate social expectations or norms

Hedonism Pleasure and sensuous gratification for oneself

Power One’s social status and prestige, control, or

dominance over people and resources

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 Descriptions of Schwartz’s value types
Security Safety, harmony, and stability of
society, of relationships, and of self
Self-direction Independent thought and action

Stimulation Excitement, novelty, and challenge in

life
Tradition Respect, commitment, and acceptance
of the customs and ideas that traditional
culture or religion provides
Universalism Understanding, appreciation, tolerance,
and protection for the welfare of all
people and for nature

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Personality

• Personality
– Stable patterns of behaviour and internal states of mind
that help explain a person’s behavioural tendencies
– Typical differences in personality – being more extrovert
or more introvert

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Personality theories

• Personality theories
– Trait theory (e.g., McCrae and Costa)
o Big Five
– Socio-cognitive theory (e.g., Bandura)
o Reciprocal determinism
o Locus of control (e.g., Rotter)
– Humanist theory (e.g., Rogers)
o Self-actualization

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Positive psychology(1 of 3)

• Definition
– The study, research, and theorizing of the psychological
bases for leading the best life possible through resiliency,
psychological strength, positive thinking, feelings, and
behaviour
• Applied to management
– In a management sense, positive psychology seeks to
understand and to foster civic virtues, social responsibility,
altruism, tolerance, happiness, and psychological
wellbeing

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Positive psychology(2 of 3)

• Emotions and moods

– Emotions are feelings in response or expectation to an
object or event
– Moods last longer
• Emotional intelligence
– The capacity to recognize our own emotions and the
emotions of others
– The ability to manage our emotions in our relationships
with others

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Positive psychology(3 of 3)

• Happiness
– Positive thoughts and feeling
– Ranges from elation to a general feeling of contentment
– Includes feeling calm, contented, satisfied, fulfilled,
inspired, positive, and free
• Affective forecasting
– Decisions made in the present based on feelings
forecasted into the future
– Impact bias is overestimated intensity in affective
forecasting

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Case study
• Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
– Imagine you are recently employed as the administrative
director. How will you start to establish relations and
teamwork with the main artistic leader (the chief
conductor)?
– What do you think is the main challenge you have to deal
with as a director?
– What do you think are the main tensions, natural and
unnatural, in an orchestra like this?
– How can you, as a top manager, deal with these
tensions?
• Thank you to Dr. Grete Wennes

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