McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-1 Chapter Individual Behavior and Differences 4 4

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-2 It is incorrect to assume that individual differences have no connection at all with the environment (work, family, community, and society), they are inextricably intertwined Employee’s behavior is complex because it’s affected by a number of environmental variables

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-3 Individual-Behavior Framework The environment Work: *Job design *Organizational structure *Policies and rules *Leadership *Rewards and sanctions *Resources Nonwork: *Family *Economic *Leisure and hobbies The Individual *Abilities and skills *Family background *Personality *Perception *Attitudes *Attributions *Learning capacity *Age *Race *Sex *Experience Behaviors *Problem-solving *Thinking process *Communication -Talking -Listening *Observation *Movement Outcomes *Performance -Long-term -Short-term *Personal development *Relations with others *Satisfaction

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-4 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. 3-5 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. 3-6 Exhibit 3.1: Variables that Influence Work Behavior Individual BehaviorWork BehaviorOrganizational Behavior - Demographic factors - Abilities and skills - Perception - Attitudes - Personality - Productive - Nonproductive - Counterproductive - Resources - Leadership - Rewards - Structure - Job Design

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-7 To understand individual differences Observe and recognize the differences Study variables that influence individual behavior Discover relationship among the variables As Kurt Lewin proposed B = f (I, E)

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-8 Theory building and research agreed: Behavior is caused Behavior is goal-directed Behavior that can be observed is measurable Behavior that’s not directly observable (e.g., thinking and perceiving) is also important in accomplishing goals Behavior is motivated

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. 3-9 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 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 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 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 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 Perception: The process by which an individual gives meaning to the environment. It involves organizing and interpreting various stimuli into a psychological experience Stimuli (supervisor, reward, workflow) Observation of the stimuli Factor influencing Perception *stereotyping *self-concept *Needs Evaluation and interpretation of reality The Person Perceptual Process A response behavior Attitudes formed

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Mental Abilities = Intelligence Mental abilityDescription Flexibility and speed of closureThe ability to hold in mind a particular visual configuration FluencyThe ability to produce words, idea and verbal expression Inductive reasoningThe ability to form and test hypotheses directed at finding relationhsips Associative memoryThe ability to remember bits of unrelated material and to recall Span memoryThe ability to recall perfectly for immediate reproduction a series of items after only presentation of the series.

McGraw-Hill/Irwin© 2005 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved Abilities and Skills Ability – a person’s talent (innate and learned) to perform a mental or physical task Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task (task related competency) Ability – a person’s talent (innate and learned) to perform a mental or physical task Skill – a learned talent that a person has acquired to perform a task (task related competency) 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 The Three Components of Attitudes Work factors Job design Manager style Company policies Technology Salary Fringe benefits Components Affect Cognition Behavior Responses Emotional: Statement about liking Perceptual: Statement about belief Action: Statement about behavior Stimuli Attitudes Outcomes

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 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 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. 3-28Conscientiousness 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