Topic 2 Individual Differences

Organizational Behavior
Eighteenth Edition, Global Edition
Chapter 2
Diversity in Organizations
Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Learning Objectives
2.1 Describe the two major forms of workplace diversity.
2.2 Describe how the key biographical characteristics are
relevant to Organizational Behavior (OB).
2.3 Describe how organizations manage diversity
effectively.
2.4 Demonstrate the relevance of intellectual and physical
abilities to OB.

Workplace Diversity

Biographical Characteristics and
Organizational Behavior (1 of 6)
• Biological characteristics are personal characteristics
that are objective and easily obtained from personnel
records.
– Variations in these can be the basis for discrimination

• Age
– The U.S. workforce is aging.
– Does job performance decline with increasing age?
– Studies show that turnover and absenteeism rates are
lower among older workers, and age is not associated
with lower productivity.

• Sex
– There are no consistent male-female differences in
problem-solving ability, analytical skills, competitive
drive, motivation, sociability, or learning drive.
– But women earn less than men for the same positions
and have fewer professional opportunities.

• Race and Ethnicity
– Laws against race and ethnic discrimination are in
effect in many countries.
– But:
 Employees tend to favor colleagues of their own
race in performance evaluations, promotion
decisions, and pay raises.
 African Americans generally fare worse than Whites
in employment decisions.

Describe How Organizations Manage
Diversity Effectively (1 of 6)
• Diversity management is the process and programs
by which managers make everyone more aware of and
sensitive to the needs and differences of others.
– Diversity is more successful when it is everyone’s
business, not just for certain groups of employees.


• Attracting, selecting, developing, and retaining diverse
employees
– Target recruiting messages to specific demographic
groups.
– Some companies have been actively working toward
recruiting less-hired groups.

• Diversity in Groups
– Most people in groups need a common way of looking
at and accomplishing major tasks, and they need to
communicate well with each other.
 Emphasize higher-level similarities among people.

• Expatriate Adjustment
– Organizations should select employees for international
assignments who are capable of adjusting quickly and
ensure they have the support they need for their
assignment.

• Effective diversity programs
– Teach managers about the legal framework for equal
employment opportunity and encourage fair treatment
of all people.
– Teach managers how a diverse workforce will be more
effective at serving a diverse customer base.
– Foster personal development practices that bring out
the skills and abilities of everyone.

• Disabilities
– The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
classifies a person as disabled who has any physical or
mental impairment that substantially limits one or more
major life activities.
– Workers with disabilities receive higher performance
evaluations, but may have lower performance
expectations.

• Hidden Disabilities
– Sensory disabilities, chronic illness or pain, cognitive
or learning impairments, sleep disorders, and
psychological challenges.
– U.S. organizations must accommodate employees
with a very broad range of impairments.

Intellectual and Physical Abilities and
OB (1 of 5)
• Ability is an individual’s current capacity to perform
various tasks in a job.
• Two types
– Intellectual abilities
– Physical abilities

OB (2 of 5)
• Intellectual abilities are abilities needed to perform
mental activities – thinking, reasoning, and problem
solving.
– Most societies place a high value on intelligence.
– General mental ability is an overall factor of
intelligence as suggested by the positive correlations
among specific intellectual ability dimensions.

OB (3 of 5)
Exhibit 2-2 Dimensions of Intellectual Ability
Dimension Description Job Example
Number aptitude Ability to do speedy and accurate arithmetic Accountant: Computing the sales tax on a
set of items
Verbal comprehension Ability to understand what is read or heard Plant manager: Following corporate
and the relationship of words to each other policies on hiring
Perceptual speed Ability to identify visual similarities and Fire investigator: Identifying clues to
differences quickly and accurately support a charge of arson
Inductive reasoning Ability to identify a logical sequence in a Market researcher: Forecasting demand for
problem and then solve the problem a product in the next time period
Deductive reasoning Ability to use logic and assess the Supervisor: Choosing between two
implications of an argument different suggestions offered by employees
Spatial visualization Ability to imagine how an object would look if Interior decorator: Redecorating an office
its position in space were changed
Memory Ability to retain and recall past experiences Salesperson: Remembering the names of
customers

OB (4 of 5)
• Physical Abilities
– The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, dexterity,
strength, and similar characteristics.
– Nine basic abilities related to strength, flexibility, and
other factors are needed to perform physical tasks.

OB (5 of 5)
Exhibit 2-3 Nine Basic Physical Abilities
Strength Factors Blank
1. Dynamic strength Ability to exert muscular force repeatedly or continuously over time
2. Trunk strength Ability to exert muscular strength using the trunk (particularly abdominal)
muscles
3. Static strength Ability to exert force against external objects

4. Explosive strength Ability to expend a maximum of energy in one or a series of explosive
acts
Flexibility Factors Blank
5. Extent flexibility Ability to move the trunk and back muscles as far as possible
6. Dynamic flexibility Ability to make rapid, repeated flexing movements
Other Factors Blank
7. Body coordination Ability to coordinate the simultaneous actions of different parts of the body
8. Balance Ability to maintain equilibrium despite forces pulling off balance
9. Stamina Ability to continue maximum effort requiring prolonged effort over time
Implications for Managers
• Seek to understand and respect the unique biographical
characteristics of your employees; a fair but individualistic
approach yields the best performance.
• Look beyond readily observable biographical characteristics
and consider the individual’s capabilities before making
management decisions.

Chapter 3
Attitudes and Job
Satisfaction

Learning Objectives
3.1 Contrast the three components of an attitude.
3.2 Summarize the relationship between attitudes and
behavior.
3.3 Compare the major job attitudes.

Contrast the Three Components of an
Attitude (1 of 2)
• Attitudes are evaluative statements—either favorable or
unfavorable—about objects, people, or events.
– They reflect how we feel about something.

Contrast the Three Components of an
Attitude (2 of 2)
Exhibit 3-1 The Components of an Attitude

Summarize the Relationship Between
Attitudes and Behavior (1 of 2)
• The attitudes that people hold determine what they do.
– Festinger: cases of attitude following behavior
illustrate the effects of cognitive dissonance.
– Cognitive dissonance is any incompatibility an
individual might perceive between two or more
attitudes or between behavior and attitudes.
• Research has generally concluded that people seek
consistency among their attitudes and between their
attitudes and their behavior.

Summarize the Relationship Between
Attitudes and Behavior (2 of 2)
• Moderating Variables:
– Attitude’s importance
– Correspondence to behavior
– Accessibility
– Presence of social pressures
– Whether a person has direct
experience with the attitude
• The attitude-behavior relationship
is likely to be much stronger if an
attitude refers to something with
which we have direct personal
experience.
Compare the Major Job Attitudes (1 of 4)
• Job Satisfaction
– A positive feeling about the job resulting from an
evaluation of its characteristics.
• Job Involvement
– Degree to which a person identifies with a job, actively
participates in it, and considers performance important
to self-worth.
– Psychological Empowerment
 Belief in the degree of influence over one’s job,
competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy.

• Organizational Commitment
– Identifying with a particular organization and its goals
and wishing to maintain membership in the
organization.
– Employees who are committed will be less likely to
engage in work withdrawal even if they are dissatisfied,
because they have a sense of organizational loyalty.

• Perceived Organizational Support (POS)
– Degree to which employees believe the organization
values their contribution and cares about their well-
being.
– Higher when rewards are fair, employees are involved
in decision making, and supervisors are seen as
supportive.
– POS is important in countries where power distance
is lower.

• Employee Engagement
– The individual’s involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the work.
– Engaged employees are passionate about their work
and company.

Implications for Managers
• Measure employee job attitudes objectively and at regular
intervals to determine how employees are reacting to their
work.
• Of the major job attitudes – job satisfaction, job
involvement, organizational commitment, perceived
organizational support (POS), and employee engagement
– remember that an employee’s job satisfaction level is the
best single predictor of behavior.
• Pay attention to your employees’ job satisfaction levels as
determinants of their performance, turnover, absenteeism,
and withdrawal behaviors.

Chapter 4
Personality and Values

Learning Objectives (1 of 2)
4.1 Describe personality, the way it is measured, and the
factors that shape it.
4.2 Describe the strengths and weaknesses of the Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) personality framework and
the Big Five model.
4.3 Discuss how the concepts of core self-evaluation (CSE),
self-monitoring, and proactive personality contribute to
the understanding of personality.

Learning Objectives (2 of 2)
4.4 Contrast terminal and instrumental values.
4.5 Compare Hofstede’s five value dimensions and the
GLOBE framework.

Describe Personality, the Way It Is Measured,
and the Factors that Shape It (1 of 2)
• Defining Personality
– Personality is a dynamic concept describing the
growth and development of a person’s whole
psychological system.
– The sum of ways in which an individual reacts to and
interacts with others.

Describe Personality, the Way It Is Measured,
and the Factors that Shape It (2 of 2)
• Measuring Personality
– Managers need to know how to measure personality.
 Personality tests are useful in hiring decisions and
help managers forecast who is best for a job.
– The most common means of measuring personality
is through self-report surveys.
• Early research tried to identify and label enduring
personality characteristics.
– Shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal,
and timid.
 These are personality traits.
Strengths and Weakness of the MBTI
and Big Five Model (1 of 5)
• The Big Five Model
– Extraversion
– Agreeableness
– Conscientiousness
– Emotional stability
– Openness to experience

Exhibit 4-2 Model of How Big Five Traits Influence OB Criteria

• The most widely used personality framework is the
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
• Individuals are classified as:
– Extroverted or Introverted (E or I)
– Sensing or Intuitive (S or N)
– Thinking or Feeling (T or F)
– Perceiving or Judging (P or J)
 INTJs are visionaries.
 ESTJs are organizers.
 ENTPs are conceptualizers.

Exhibit 4-1 Traits That Matter Most to Business Success at Buyout
Companies
Most Important Less Important
Persistence Strong oral communication
Attention to detail Teamwork
Efficiency Flexibility/adaptability
Analytical skills Enthusiasm
Setting high standards Listening skills
Source: Based on S. N. Kaplan, M. M. Klebanov, and M. Sorensen, “Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?”
The Journal of Finance 67, no. 3 (2012): 973–1007.

• The Dark Triad
– Machiavellianism: the degree to which an individual is
pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes
that ends can justify means.
– Narcissism: the tendency to be arrogant, have a
grandiose sense of self-importance, require excessive
admiration, and have a sense of entitlement.
– Psychopathy: the tendency for a lack of concern for
others and a lack of guilt or remorse when their actions
cause harm.

CSE, Self-Monitoring, and Proactive
Personality
• Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB
– Core Self-Evaluation: bottom line conclusions
individuals have about their capabilities,
competence, and worth as a person.
– Self-Monitoring: measures an individual’s ability
to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational
factors.
– Proactive Personality: people who identify
opportunities, show initiative, take action, and
persevere until meaningful change occurs.

Contrast Terminal and Instrumental
Values (1 of 3)
• Values: basic convictions about what is right, good, or
desirable.
– Value system: ranks values in terms of intensity.
• The Importance and Organization of Values
– Values:
 Lay the foundation for understanding of attitudes
and motivation.
 Influence attitudes and behaviors.

Values (2 of 3)
• Terminal vs. Instrumental Values
– Terminal values: desirable end-states of existence.
– Instrumental values: preferred modes of behavior
or means of achieving terminal values.

Values (3 of 3)
Exhibit 4-4 Dominant Work Values in Today’s Workforce
Entered the Approximate

Cohort Workforce Current Age Dominant Work Values
Boomers 1965–1985 50s to 70s Success, achievement, ambition,
dislike of authority; loyalty to career
Xers 1985–2000 Mid-30s to 50s Work-life balance, team-oriented,
dislike of rules; loyalty to
relationships
Millennials 2000 to To mid-30s Confident, financial success, self-
present reliant but team-oriented; loyalty to
both self and relationships

Hofstede’s Five Value Dimensions
and GLOBE (1 of 2)
• Hofstede’s Framework
– Power distance
– Individualism versus collectivism
– Masculinity versus femininity
– Uncertainty avoidance
– Long-term versus short-term orientation

Hofstede’s Five Value Dimensions
and GLOBE (2 of 2)
• The GLOBE Framework for Assessing Culture
– The Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior
Effectiveness (GLOBE) research program updated
Hofstede’s research.
 Data from 825 organizations and 62 countries.
 Used variables similar to Hofstede’s.
 Added some news ones.

Implications for Managers (1 of 2)
• Consider screening job candidates for high
conscientiousness—and the other Big Five traits—
depending on the criteria your organization finds most
important. Other aspects, such as core self-evaluation or
narcissism, may be relevant in certain situations.
• Although the MBTI has faults, you can use it for training
and development; to help employees better understand
each other, open communication in work groups, and
possibly reduce conflicts.

Implications for Managers (2 of 2)
• Consider situational factors when evaluating observable
personality traits, and lower the situation strength to
better ascertain personality characteristics more closely.
• The more you consider people’s different cultures, the
better you will be able to determine their work behavior
and create a positive organizational climate that performs
well.

Topic 2 Individual Differences

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Organizational Behavior

Eighteenth Edition, Global Edition

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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3. Static strength Ability to exert force against external objects

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Most Important Less Important

Persistence Strong oral communication

Attention to detail Teamwork

Analytical skills Enthusiasm

Setting high standards Listening skills

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Entered the Approximate

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2019 Pearson Education, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

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