1 Introduction to Individuals in OB OS 386 September 3, 2002 Fisher

2 True or False? A happy worker is a productive worker. Employees perform better without stress. Employees usually feel bad if they are paid more than others performing the same work.

3 Agenda Review basics of Individual Level concepts –Types of individual behavior in organizations –Drivers of individual behavior Apply concepts to an example Form teams for research project (10 min)

4 Back to our definitions of OB: “the study of what people think, feel, and do in and around organizations.” McShane & VonGlinow (2003) “the systematic study of actions and attitudes that people exhibit within organizations” Robbins (2000) “the study of individuals and groups in organizations” Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn (2003)

5 What kinds of behaviors, attitudes, and feelings are we interested in? What kinds of behaviors do we need to understand to improve workplace functioning? What might affect how people behave at work?

6 Some important work-related behaviors Joining the organization Staying with the organization Getting along with others Maintaining work attendance Performing required tasks (and performing them well) Exhibiting organizational citizenship

7 But why do people exhibit certain behaviors? We want to both understand and predict certain behaviors –Some behaviors are more desirable than others; how can we maximize those behaviors? This is where attitudes, feelings, personality characteristics, and other individual differences come into play

8 Drivers of Individual Behavior Motivation Ability Personality (sorry to ruin the acronym!) Role Perceptions Situational Factors

9 Motivation Direction – What do you choose to do? What is the goal? Intensity – How much effort do you put toward something? Persistence – Will you continue that effort over time? Will you stay motivated if you encounter difficulty?

10 Ability What are you capable of doing? –Aptitudes –Learned capabilities Competencies tend to be broader – include personality factors, etc. People have different arrays of abilities

11 Personality Individual characteristics or tendencies associated with behavioral patterns –Personality affects behavior, but does not determine behavior –Personality often interacts with situational factors Often included as part of competencies

12 Role Perceptions What are you supposed to be doing? What do you expect others to do? Especially useful in team settings

13 Situational Factors Wide variety of factors –Organizational –Economic –Environmental –Many others Major source of “it depends” in OB

14 Analyze the possible causes of some work-related behavior… Jenny has been with Acme Manufacturing for six years. She was recently promoted to the position of HR Representative for a large work unit. The accuracy of Jenny’s work has been low since her promotion. She makes mistakes when completing forms almost 50% of the time. What could be causing Jenny’s performance problems?

15 Team Assignments Most teams have 4 people Cross functional Team assignments and addresses are posted on the course website Research question due September 17

16 For next class: Topic: Learning Theories Read Chapter 2, pages Complete Learning Strategies assessment on course website (follow link in Schedule) –Bring results to class for discussion