McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-1

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-2 Chapter Individual Differences and Work Behavior 3 3

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-3 Why Individual Differences Are Important: (1 of 2) Individual differences have a direct effect on behavior People who perceive things differently behave differently People with different attitudes respond differently to directives People with different personalities interact differently with bosses, coworkers, subordinates, and customers

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-4 Why Individual Differences Are Important: (2 of 2) Individual differences help explain: Why some people embrace change and others are fearful of it Why some employees will be productive only if they are closely supervised, while others will be productive if they are not Why some workers learn new tasks more effectively than others

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-5 Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle (1 of 3) Different people are attracted to different careers and organizations as a function of their own: abilities interests personalities

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-6 Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle (2 of 3) Organizations select employees on the basis of the needs the organization has skills and abilities individual attributes such as values and personality

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-7 Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) Cycle (3 of 3) Attrition occurs when: individuals discover they do not like being part of the organization and elect to resign, or the organization determines an individual is not succeeding and elects to terminate

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-8 Each phase of the ASA cycle is significantly influenced by the individual differences of each person

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-9 Effective managerial practice requires that individual behavior differences be recognized, and when feasible, taken into consideration while carrying out the job of managing organizational behavior.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Individual Differences in the Workplace Ability and Skills Attitudes Perception Personality Work Behavior Productivity Creativity Performance Individual Differences

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved The Basis for Understanding Work Behavior: To understand individual differences a manager must: observe and recognize the differences and study relationships between variables that influence behavior

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Ability and Skills Perception Attitudes Hereditary and DiversityFactors Personality Individual Differences Influencing Work Behavior:

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Diversity Factors Primary Dimensions (stable) Age Ethnicity Gender Physical attributes Race Sexual / affectional orientation Primary Dimensions (stable) Age Ethnicity Gender Physical attributes Race Sexual / affectional orientation Secondary Dimensions (changeable) Educational background Marital status Religious beliefs Health Work experience Secondary Dimensions (changeable) Educational background Marital status Religious beliefs Health Work experience

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Sex Differences in Management: Selected Results (1 of 2) DimensionResults Behavior: Task-oriented People-oriented Effectiveness ratings Response to poor performer Influence strategies No difference. Stereotypical difference in evaluations of managers in laboratory studies: Males favored. No difference in evaluations of actual managers. Stereotypical difference: Males use norm of equity, whereas females use norm of equality. Stereotypical difference: Males use a wider range of strategies, more positive strategies, and less negative strategies. The difference diminishes when women managers have high self-confidence.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Sex Differences in Management: Selected Results (2 of 2) DimensionResults Motivation No difference in some studies. Non-stereotypical difference in other studies: Female motivational profile is close to that associated with successful managers. Commitment Inconsistent evidence regarding difference. Subordinates responses Stereotypical differences in responses to managers in laboratory studies; Managers using style that matches sex role stereotype are favored. No difference in responses to actual managers.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Abilities and Skills Ability – a person’s talent to perform a mental or physical task Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task Ability – a person’s talent to perform a mental or physical task Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task Key Abilities Mental Ability Emotional Intelligence Tacit Knowledge

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Attitudes Are determinates of behavior because they are linked with perception, personality, feelings, and motivation Attitude – a mental state of readiness learned and organized through experience exerting a specific response to people, objects, and situations with which it is related

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Attitudes: Implications for the Manager 1.Attitudes are learned 2.Attitudes define one’s predispositions toward given aspects of the world 3.Attitudes provide the emotional basis of one’s interpersonal relations and identification with others 4.Attitudes are organized and are close to the core of personality

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Manager style TechnologyNoisePeers Reward system Compensation plan Career opportunities Manager style TechnologyNoisePeers Reward system Compensation plan Career opportunities Beliefs and values Feelings and emotions Intended behavior Stimuli Work environment factors Cognition Affect Behavior “My supervisor is unfair.” “Having a fair supervisor is important to me.” “I don’t like my supervisor.” “I’ve submitted a formal request to transfer.” The Three Components of Attitudes: Cognition, Affect, Behavior

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Cognition What individuals know about themselves and their environment Implies a conscious process of acquiring knowledge Evaluative beliefs – favorable or unfavorable impressions that a person holds toward an object or person

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Affect The emotional component of an attitude Often learned from parents teachers peer group members The part of an attitude that is associated with “feeling” a certain way about a person, group, or situation

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Cognitive Dissonance A discrepancy between attitudes and behaviors A mental state of anxiety Occurs when there is a conflict among an individual’s various cognitions after a decision has been made

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Changing Attitudes The Communicator The Message The Situation

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (1 of 2) 1.Concentrate on gradually changing the attitude over a period of time 2.Identify the beliefs or values that are part of the attitude and provide the attitude holder with information that will alter those beliefs or values

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved How to Increase Your Effectiveness in Changing Attitudes: (2 of 2) 3.Make the setting (in which the attempted change occurs) as pleasant and enjoyable as possible 4.Identify reasons that changing the attitude is to the advantage of the attitude holder

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Attitudes and Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction – an attitude people have about their jobs Results from people’s perception of their jobs Results from the degree of fit between the individual and the organization Job satisfaction – an attitude people have about their jobs Results from people’s perception of their jobs Results from the degree of fit between the individual and the organization Key factors associated with job satisfaction: Pay Promotion opportunities Supervision Coworkers Working conditions Job security Key factors associated with job satisfaction: Pay Promotion opportunities Supervision Coworkers Working conditions Job security

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Satisfaction-Performance Relationships: Three Views 2. Job Performance 1. Job Satisfaction 3. Job Performance Job Satisfaction Job Performance Job Satisfaction Causes Causes “The satisfied worker is more productive.” “The more productive worker is satisfied.” RewardsRewards Perceived Equity

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Personality A relatively stable set of feelings and behaviors that have been significantly formed by genetic and environmental factors The relationship between behavior and personality is one of the most complex matters that managers have to understand

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Some Major Forces Influencing Personality Individual Personality Cultural forces Hereditary forces Family relationship forces Social class / group membership forces

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved The Big Five Personality Dimensions Locus of Control Self-efficacy Creativity Personality and Behavior in Organizations

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-31Conscientiousness Extroversion Emotional Stability Agreeableness Openness to Experience The Big Five Personality Dimensions

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Locus of Control Locus of control of individuals – Determines the degree to which they believe their behaviors influence what happens to them Internals – believe they are masters of their own fate Externals – believe they are helpless pawns of fate, success is due to luck or ease of task

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Self-Efficacy Feelings of self-efficacy have managerial and organizational implications: Selection decisions Training programs Goal setting and performance

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved How to Develop Employee Creativity 1.Encourage everyone to view old problems from new perspectives 2.Make certain people know that it is OK to make mistakes 3.Provide as many people with as many new work experiences as you can 4.Set an example in your own approach to dealing with problems and opportunities