CH-3-4 Individual Characteristics – Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations : Book Guide

This Document Contains Chapters 3 to 4 Chapter Three – Individual Characteristics Overview Chapter 1 showed how managers strive to enhance performance behaviors, enhance commitment and engagement, promote citizenship behaviors, and minimize dysfunctional behaviors by their employees. Chapter 2 identified how various environmental factors—diversity, globalization, technology, ethics, and new employment relationships—all impact organizational behavior. The text now turns to part two with a fundamental question underlying organizational behavior: Why do individuals do what they do? Chapter 3 identifies and discusses critical individual characteristics that affect people’s behaviors in organizations. The discussion of other important individual characteristics is continued in Chapter 4. Core theories and concepts that drive employee motivation are introduced and discussed in Chapter 5. Finally, in Chapter 6 we focus on how managers can implement motivation theories and concepts. In this chapter we explore some of the key characteristics that differentiate people from one another in organizations. We first introduce the essential nature of individual differences and how people “fit” as individuals in organizations. We then look at personality frameworks that shed considerable light on different personality profiles. Next, we examine other specific personality traits and discuss different types of intelligence. We close this chapter with an examination of different styles for processing information and learning. Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Explain the nature of individual differences, the concept of fit, and the role of realistic job previews. 2. Define personality and describe general personality frameworks and attributes that affect behavior in organizations. 3. Identify and discuss other important personality traits that affect behavior in organizations. 4. Discuss different kinds of intelligence that affect behavior in organizations. 5. Describe different learning styles that influence how people process information and that affect behavior in organizations. Real World Challenge: Individual Differences That Make a Difference at Southwest Airlines Summary: Fun and friendly customer service is essential to the success of Southwest Airlines’ business strategy. Southwest believes it can train new hires on whatever they need to do, but it cannot change employees’ inherent nature. To support its goals of hiring fun, creative, innovative employees, Southwest Airlines looks for leadership and a sense of humor in the people it hires. The company looks for empathetic people with other-oriented, outgoing personalities who work hard and have fun at the same time. Real World Challenge: Southwest asks for your advice about how to better hire empathetic employees with creativity and fun-loving characteristics who fit with the company’s unique culture. After reading this chapter, you should have some good ideas. Real World Response: Job candidates do more than interview for a job; they audition—and the audition begins the moment they request an application. Managers jot down anything memorable about the initial conversation, both good and bad. Employees observe whether recruits are consistently friendly to the crew and to other passengers or if they complain. Southwest’s flight attendant assessment methods not only ensure that it hires people whose personalities fit the culture, but also help it execute its customer service strategy. Chapter Outline I. People in Organizations A. Individual Differences Individual differences are personal attributes that vary from one person to another. Individual differences may be physical, psychological, and emotional. Basic categories of individual differences include personality, intelligence, learning styles, attitudes, values and emotions, perception, and stress. Managers should also be aware of psychological contracts that exist between the organization and its employees. In an ideal situation, then, understanding differences across people and creating effective psychological contracts can help facilitate a good fit between people and the organization. B. The Concept of Fit Being good at our job is important, but is not enough—we need to fit with our organization and workgroup as well. That is, there are actually different forms of fit. These different forms of fit are summarized in Table 3.1. 1. Person-Job Fit Person-job fit is the fit between a person’s abilities and the demands of the job, and the fit between a person’s desires and motivations and the attributes and rewards of a job. Because job performance is usually the most important determinant of an employee’s success, person-job fit is usually the primary focus of most staffing efforts. It is important to consider not only the fit between an individual’s talents and the job requirements, but also the fit between an individual’s motivations and the rewards offered by the job. Research suggests that person-job fit leads to higher job performance, satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to stay with the company. People differ in their personality and motivations as well as their skills. Organizations must consider individual differences beyond skills when making hiring decisions. 2. Person-Group Fit Good person-group fit (or person-team fit) means that an individual fits with the workgroup’s work styles, skills, and goals. Person-group fit leads to improved job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intent to stay with the company, and critical in team-oriented organizations. 3. Person-Organization Fit Person-organization fit is the fit between an individual’s values, beliefs, and personality and the values, norms, and culture of the organization. The strength of this fit influences important organizational outcomes including job performance, retention, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Organizational values and norms that are important for person-organization fit include integrity, fairness, work ethic, competitiveness, cooperativeness, and compassion for fellow employees and customers. Research suggests that people may experience differing degrees of fit with the job and with the organization. Essentially, it is possible to like what you do but not where you do it, or to like where you work but not what you do there. So how can you maximize person-organization fit? A good place to start is to identify those qualifications, competencies, and traits that relate to the organization’s strategy, values, and processes and hire people with those characteristics. Employees must be able and willing to adapt to a company by learning, negotiating, enacting, and maintaining the behaviors appropriate to the company’s environment. Of course, hiring for any type of fit does not mean simply hiring those with whom we are most comfortable, which can lead to dysfunctional stereotyping and discrimination against people who may actually contribute a great deal to the company’s success. 4. Person-Vocation Fit Person-vocation fit is the fit between a person’s interests, abilities, values, and personality and a profession. Our adjustment and satisfaction are greater when our occupation meets our needs. Although individuals usually choose a vocation long before applying to an organization, understanding person-vocation fit can still be useful to organizations and managers. Companies wanting to develop their own future leaders, or smaller organizations that need employees to fill multiple roles, may be able to use vocational interests in determining whether job applicants would be a good fit with the organization’s future needs. C. Realistic Job Previews Realistic job previews (RJPs) involve the presentation of both positive and potentially negative information to job candidates. The goal is not to deter candidates, but rather to provide accurate information about the job and organization and build trust. If a common reason for employees leaving an organization is that the job is not what they expected, this is a good sign that the recruiting message can be improved. Given the relatively low cost associated with their development, RJPs may be useful for organizations trying to reduce turnover rates for jobs that departing employees say were not what they expected when they accepted job offers. II. Personality and Individual Behavior Personality is the relatively stable set of psychological attributes that distinguish one person from another. Managers should strive to understand basic personality attributes and how they can affect people’s behavior and fit in organizational situations, not to mention their perceptions of and attitudes toward the organization. A. The “Big Five” Framework Researchers have identified five fundamental personality traits that are especially relevant to organizations. These traits, illustrated in Figure 3.1, are now commonly called the “Big Five” personality traits. The personality of any given person can fall anywhere along each of these five traits. Agreeableness refers to a person’s ability to get along with others. It seems likely that highly agreeable people are better at developing good working relationships with coworkers, subordinates, and higher-level managers, whereas less agreeable people are not likely to have particularly good working relationships. The same pattern might extend to relationships with customers, suppliers, and other key organizational constituents. Conscientiousness refers to the extent to which a person can be counted on to get things done. In general, research suggests that being strong on conscientiousness is often a good predictor of job performance for many jobs. The third of the Big Five personality dimensions is neuroticism. People who are relatively more neurotic tend to experience unpleasant emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression, and feelings of vulnerability more often than do people who are relatively less neurotic. People with less neuroticism might be expected to better handle job stress, pressure, and tension. Their stability might also lead them to be seen as being more reliable than their less stable counterparts. Extraversion reflects a person’s comfort level with relationships. Research suggests that extroverts tend to be higher overall job performers than introverts and that they are more likely to be attracted to jobs based on personal relationships, such as sales and marketing positions. For this particular trait, the opposite version is also given a name—introversion. An introvert tends to be less comfortable in social situations. Finally, openness reflects a person’s rigidity of beliefs and range of interests. People with more openness might be expected to be better performers due to their flexibility and the likelihood that they will be better accepted by others in the organization. Openness may also encompass a person’s willingness to accept change; people with high levels of openness may be more receptive to change, whereas people with little openness may resist change. The potential value of the Big Five framework is that it encompasses an integrated set of traits that appear to be valid predictors of certain behaviors in certain situations. Thus, managers who can both understand the framework and assess these traits in their employees are in a good position to understand how and why they behave as they do. On the other hand, managers must be careful to not overestimate their ability to assess the Big Five traits in others. There are also times when using more specific personality traits to predict outcomes such as turnover or performance are more useful than the more general Big Five traits because the more specific trait more directly influences the intended outcome. Another limitation of the Big Five framework is that it is primarily based on research conducted in the United States. Thus, generalizing it to other cultures (or even within the U.S.) presents unanswered questions. B. The Myers-Briggs Framework The Myers-Briggs framework is also a popular framework that some people use to characterize personality. Many people know of this framework through a widely-used questionnaire called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, or MBTI. The MBTI was based on Carl Jung’s work and first developed by Isabel Briggs Myers (1897–1979) and her mother, Katharine Cook Briggs, to help people understand themselves and each other so that they could find work that matches their personality. The MBTI uses four scales with opposite poles to assess four sets of preferences. The four scales are: 1. Extroversion (E)/Introversion (I): Extroverts are energized by things and people. Their motto is, “ready, fire, aim.” Introverts find energy in ideas, concepts, and abstractions. They are reflective thinkers whose motto is, “ready, aim, aim.” 2. Sensing (S)/Intuition (N): Sensing people are detail oriented. They want and trust facts. Intuitive people seek out patterns and relationships among the facts they have learned. They trust their intuition and look for the “big picture.” 3. Thinking (T)/Feeling (F): Thinkers value fairness, and decide things impersonally based on objective criteria and logic. Feelers value harmony, and focus on human values and needs as they make decisions or judgments. 4. Judging (J)/Perceiving (P): Judging people are decisive and tend to plan. They develop plans and follow them, adhering to deadlines. Perceptive people are adaptable, spontaneous, and curious. They start many tasks, and often find it difficult to complete them. Deadlines are meant to be stretched. The possible combinations of these preferences result in sixteen personality types, which are identified by the four letters that represent one’s tendencies on the four scales. For example, ENTJ reflects extraversion, intuition, thinking, and judging. Although the framework and Myers-Briggs instrument were not developed or intended to be used to identify personality profiles and label people, too often this is what is done with the results. This is problematic as it can lead to discrimination and poor career counseling. The classification of individuals means nothing, nothing at all. Nonetheless, the MBTI has become so popular that it is likely that you will encounter it during your career. It can be a fun team-building tool for illustrating some of the ways that people differ, but it should not be used in making organizational decisions including hiring and promotions. III. Other Important Personality Traits A. Locus of Control Locus of control is the extent to which people believe that their behavior has a real effect on what happens to them. Some people, for example, believe that if they work hard they will succeed. They may also believe that people who fail do so because they lack ability or motivation. People who believe that individuals are in control of their lives are said to have an internal locus of control. Other people think that fate, chance, luck, or other people’s behavior determines what happens to them. People who think that forces beyond their control dictate what happens to them are said to have an external locus of control. B. Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy is our confidence in our ability to cope, perform, and be successful on a specific task. It is possible to have high self-esteem but low self-efficacy for certain tasks. Self-efficacy is a key factor influencing motivation and engagement in an activity. General self-efficacy reflects a generalized belief that we will be successful at whatever challenges or tasks we might face. Because self-efficacy and general self-efficacy are related to setting higher goals, persisting in the face of obstacles, and performing better, it is important for you to maintain a positive sense of self-efficacy. C. Self-Esteem Self-esteem refers to our feelings of self-worth and our liking or disliking of ourselves. Self-esteem is positively related to job performance and learning. D. Authoritarianism Another important personality characteristic is authoritarianism, the extent to which a person believes that power and status differences are appropriate within hierarchical social systems such as organizations. A person who is highly authoritarian may accept directives or orders from someone with more authority purely because the other person is “the boss.” On the other hand, a person who is not highly authoritarian, although she or he may still carry out reasonable directives from the boss, is more likely to question things, express disagreement with the boss, and even refuse to carry out orders if they are for some reason objectionable. E. Machiavellianism Machiavellianism is another important personality trait. The term “Machiavellianism” is used to describe behavior directed at gaining power and controlling the behavior of others. More Machiavellian individuals tend to be rational and unemotional, may be willing to lie to attain their personal goals, put little emphasis on loyalty and friendship, and enjoy manipulating others’ behavior. Less Machiavellian individuals are more emotional, less willing to lie to succeed, value loyalty and friendship highly, and get little personal pleasure from manipulating others. F. Tolerance for Risk and Ambiguity Two other closely related traits are tolerance for risk and tolerance for ambiguity. Tolerance for risk (also called risk propensity) is the degree to which a person is comfortable accepting risk, willing to take chances and to make risky decisions. A manager with a high tolerance for risk might lead the organization in new and different directions. A manager with low tolerance for risk might lead an organization to stagnation and excessive conservatism, or might help the organization successfully weather turbulent and unpredictable times by maintaining stability and calm. Tolerance for ambiguity reflects the tendency to view ambiguous situations as either threatening or desirable. Intolerance for ambiguity reflects a tendency to perceive or interpret vague, incomplete, or fragmented information or information with multiple, inconsistent, or contradictory meanings as an actual or potential source of psychological discomfort or threat. Being tolerant of ambiguity is related to creativity, positive attitudes toward risk, and orientation to diversity. The best managerial strategy is to place individuals with a low tolerance for ambiguity in well-defined and regulated tasks. G. Type A and B Traits The Type A personality is impatient, competitive, ambitious, and uptight. The Type B personality is more relaxed and easygoing and less overtly competitive than Type A. Although Type As often have higher job performance than Type Bs, Type As are also more prone to stress and coronary heart disease. As shown in Figure 3.2, Type A and B profiles reflect extremes with most people simply tending toward one or the other. Understanding the personality type of your coworkers and boss can help you to better understand and manage this potential source of work conflicts. Recognizing your personality type can help you to identify work situations that are good fits for you. H. The Bullying Personality Workplace bullying is a repeated mistreatment of another employee through verbal abuse; conduct that is threatening, humiliating, or intimidating; or sabotage that interferes with the other person’s work. Bullying costs employers through higher turnover, greater absenteeism, higher workers’ compensation costs, and higher disability insurance rates, not to mention a diminished reputation as a desirable place to work. It is four times more common than harassment. Who tends to become a bully? Bullying is complex and comes in a variety of forms, but common to all types is the abuse of authority and power, stemming from the bully’s need to control another person. High Machiavellians manipulate and exploit others to advance their personal agendas, which is the foundation of bullying. Although there is no clear personality profile that predicts who will be targeted, people who are more introverted, less agreeable, less conscientious, less open to experience, and more emotionally unstable seem to be more likely to be bullied. I. Role of the Situation The relationship between personality and behavior changes depending on the strength of the situation we are in. Strong organizational cultures might decrease the influence of personality on employee behaviors by creating clear guidelines for employee behavior. Weaker organizational cultures might allow greater individual employee expression, resulting in a wider variety of employee behaviors. Global Issues: How Others See Americans Summary: This chapter’s Global Issues feature is from a Newsweek survey reporting the characteristics foreigners most and least often associate with them. It may give you some insight into how you might be perceived differently in different parts of the world. IV. Intelligence There are many types of intelligence, or mental abilities, including general mental ability, information processing capacity, verbal ability, and emotional intelligence. A. General Mental Ability General mental ability is the capacity to rapidly and fluidly acquire, process, and apply information. It involves reasoning, remembering, understanding, and problem solving. It is associated with the increased ability to acquire, process, and synthesize information and has been defined simply as the ability to learn. The strong association between measures of general mental ability and performance in a wide variety of task domains is one of the most consistent findings in the field of organizational behavior. Information processing capacity involves the manner in which individuals process and organize information. Information processing capacity also helps explain differences between experts and novices on task learning and performance, as experts process and organize information more efficiently and accurately than novices. General mental ability influences information processing capacity. Age also explains differences in information processing capacity. Mental ability tests typically use computerized or paper-and-pencil test formats to assess general mental abilities, including verbal or mathematical reasoning, logic, and perceptual abilities. Despite being easy to use and one of the most valid selection methods for all jobs, mental ability tests produce racial differences that are three to five times larger than other methods that are also valid predictors of job performance such as structured interviews. Because hiring discrimination can be legally problematic when using mental ability tests, it is best to evaluate the effect of mental ability tests on protected groups before using them on job candidates. Research has supported the idea that mental ability is most important in complex jobs, when individuals are new to the job, and when there are changes in the workplace that require workers to learn new ways of performing their jobs. B. Multiple Intelligences Increasingly, researchers and scholars are realizing that there is more than one way to be smart. Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences suggests that there are a number of distinct forms of intelligence that each individual possesses in varying degrees: 1. Linguistic: words and language 2. Logical-mathematical: logic and numbers 3. Musical: music, rhythm, and sound 4. Bodily-kinesthetic: body movement and control 5. Spatial-visual: images and space 6. Interpersonal: other people’s feelings 7. Intrapersonal: self-awareness The different intelligences represent not only different content domains but also learning preferences. The theory suggests that assessment of abilities should measure all forms of intelligence, not just linguistic and logical-mathematical, as is commonly done. According to this theory, learning and teaching should focus on the particular intelligences of each person. The theory also emphasizes the cultural context of multiple intelligences. Knowing your strongest areas of intelligence can guide you to the most appropriate job and learning environments to enable you to achieve your potential. As a manager, it is possible to develop the same skills in different ways for different subordinates. Using a person’s preferred learning style helps to make learning easy and enjoyable. C. Emotional Intelligence Emotional intelligence (EI) is an interpersonal capability that includes the ability to perceive and express emotions, to understand and use them, and to manage emotions in oneself and other people. Expert Daniel Goleman describes five dimensions of EI that include three personal competencies (self-awareness, self-regulation, and motivation) and two social competencies (empathy and social skills). Emotional intelligence involves using emotional regulatory processes to control anxiety and other negative emotional reactions and to generate positive emotional reactions. The five dimensions comprising emotional intelligence are: 1. Self-awareness: being aware of what you are feeling 2. Self-motivation: persisting in the face of obstacles, setbacks, and failures 3. Self-management: managing your own emotions and impulses 4. Empathy: sensing how others are feeling 5. Social skills: effectively handling the emotions of others People differ in the degree to which they are able to recognize the emotional meaning of others’ facial expressions, although seven universal emotions are expressed in the face in exactly the same way regardless of race, culture, ethnicity, age, gender, or religion. These emotions are joy, sadness, fear, surprise, anger, contempt, and disgust. There is some evidence that components of EI are malleable skills that can be developed, including facial expression recognition. The ability to understand what others think and feel, knowing how to appropriately persuade and motivate them, and knowing how to resolve conflicts and forge cooperation are some of the most important skills of successful managers. There is also controversy associated with the concepts of EI. Some have argued that its overly inclusive, lacks specificity, and it is not clear if it is simply a learned skill or an innate capability. Several researchers have also argued that EI is simply a surrogate for general intelligence and well-established personality traits. However, a number of studies have supported the usefulness of EI. EI has been found to be related to, and yet distinct from, personality dimensions; and various measures of EI provided incremental predictive power regarding life satisfaction and job performance, even after controlling for Big Five personality dimensions. CASE STUDY: Emotional Intelligence at FedEx Summary: Global shipping company FedEx has a “people first philosophy and believes that for the company to deliver world class customer service its managers must also have an attitude of service in managing their associates. FedEx recognizes that leadership has grown more complex, and wants to develop leadership capabilities in its managers to manage its changing workforce. FedEx decided to increase its focus on emotional intelligence in its leadership development training. The emotional intelligence training and coaching program focused on showing managers how to manage themselves first and take charge of their own emotions and behaviors so that they can be effective influencers and role models. 1. Do you think that emotional intelligence would be important for a manager at FedEx to have? Explain your answer. The definition for emotional intelligence (EI) in the text is an interpersonal capability that includes the ability to perceive and express emotions, to understand and use them, and to manage emotions in oneself and other people. FedEx increased its focus on EI in its leadership development training because the company has a “people first” philosophy and believes to deliver world-class customer service, its managers must also have an attitude of service in managing their associates. EI would be an important skill for success as a manager at FedEx. 2. How does FedEx develop its new leaders’ emotional intelligence? FedEx keeps a running measurement of leadership performance with an annual survey where all employees provide feedback about their managers. The survey’s themes include fairness, respect, listening, and trust. FedEx increased its focus on EI in its leadership development training. The training consists of a five-day course and six-month follow up coaching process which identifies new managers’ strengths and gives them specific EI competencies to improve on. 3. What else do you think that FedEx can do to enhance its managers’ emotional intelligence? The majority of leaders receiving the leadership development training showed large improvements in relationships, influence, and decision making as a result of their improved empathy, emotional literacy, and ability to navigate emotions. FedEx has been extremely pleased with the success of the EI development program, training over 100 facilitators to run the program and coach new leaders worldwide. The program’s success could be enhanced by offering the same content in different learning styles. V. Learning Styles Learning style refers to individual differences and preferences in how we process information when problem solving, learning, or engaging in similar activities. There are numerous typologies, measures, and models that capture these differences and preferences A. Sensory Modalities One approach addresses our preference for sensory modality. A sensory modality is a system that interacts with the environment through one of the basic senses. The most important sensory modalities are: •Visual: learning by seeing •Auditory: learning by hearing •Tactile: learning by touching •Kinesthetic: learning by doing According to researchers, about 20 to 30 percent of American students are auditory; about 40 percent are visual; and the remaining 30 to 40 percent are either tactile/kinesthetic, visual/tactile, or some combinations of the above major senses. B. Learning Style Inventory A second approach to understanding learning styles, the Kolb Learning Style Inventory, is one of the more dominant approaches to categorizing cognitive styles. Kolb suggests that there are four basic learning styles: 1. Convergers: depend primarily on active experimentation and abstract conceptualization to learn. People with this style are superior in technical tasks and problems and inferior in interpersonal learning settings. 2. Divergers: depend primarily on concrete experience and reflective observation. People with this style tend to organize concrete situations from different perspectives and structure their relationships into a meaningful whole. They are superior in generating alternative hypotheses and ideas, and tend to be imaginative and people or feeling-oriented. 3. Assimilators: depend on abstract conceptualization and reflective observation. These individuals tend to be more concerned about abstract concepts and ideas than about people. They also tend to focus on the logical soundness and preciseness of ideas, rather than the ideas’ practical values; they tend to work in research and planning units. 4. Accommodators: rely mainly on active experimentation and concrete experience, and focus on risk taking, opportunity seeking, and action. Accommodators tend to deal with people easily and specialize in action-oriented jobs, such as marketing and sales. There are many differences in how styles are conceptualized, and there have been numerous criticisms of Kolb’s measures and the underlying theory. These measures are subject to a variety of statistical and inferential problems, and many show low reliability. Most of the research has also focused on children—less work has focused on how the styles influence adult learning. Despite these limitations, evidence suggests that cognitive and learning styles may be important for understanding human behavior and performance in a variety of contexts. C. Learning Style Orientations Finally, Annette Towler and Robert Dipboye102 developed a learning style orientation measure to address some of the limitations of the Kolb inventory and identify key styles and preferences for learning. They identified five key factors: 1. Discovery learning: an inclination for exploration during learning. Discovery learners prefer subjective assessments, interactional activities, informational methods, and active-reflective activities. 2. Experiential learning: a desire for hands-on approaches to instruction. Experiential learning is positively related to a preference for action activities. 3. Observational learning: a preference for external stimuli such as demonstrations and diagrams to help facilitate learning. Observational learning is positively related to preference for informational methods and active-reflective methods. 4. Structured learning: a preference for processing strategies such as taking notes, writing down task steps, and so forth. Structured learning is related to preferences for subjective assessments. 5. Group learning: a preference to work with others while learning. Group learning is related to preferences for action and interactional learning. Summary and Application Understanding individuals in organizations is important for all managers. A basic framework for facilitating this understanding is the psychological contract—people’s expectations regarding what they will contribute to the organization and what they will get in return. Organizations strive to achieve an optimal person-job fit, but this process is complicated by the existence of individual differences. Personalities are the relatively stable sets of psychological and behavioral attributes that distinguish one person from another. The Big Five personality traits are agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness. Myers-Briggs dimensions and emotional intelligence also offer insights into personalities in organizations. Other important traits are locus of control, self-efficacy, self-esteem, authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, tolerance for risk and ambiguity, Type A and Type B traits, and tendencies to bully. The role of the situation is also important. Learning styles, or individual differences and preferences in how we process information when problem solving, learning, or engaging in similar activities, are also important individual differences and preferences, and there are numerous typologies, measures, and models that capture them. Everyone is different. We each have different personalities, demographics, and intelligences. By understanding the characteristics of your coworkers, managers, and subordinates, you will be best able to choose the OB tool or management style that will be most effective. Remember, flexibility is the key to effective management. We next continue our discussion of other important individual differences that affect organizational behavior in Chapter 4. Among the major topics we will cover in that chapter are attitudes, values, emotions, perception, and stress. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What is a psychological contract? Why is it important? What psychological contracts do you currently have? A psychological contract is the overall set of expectations held by an individual with respect to what he or she will contribute to the organization and what the organization, in return, will provide to the individual. It is important because it is the framework within which an employee does her or his job. It sets up the expectations that both the employee and the organization have for their relationship. Students may have psychological contracts where they work, with service clubs, and with social organizations. 2. What individual differences do you feel are most important to organizations? Why? The individual differences that are most important in organizations are emotional stability because it is associated with not being anxious, depressed, angry, anxious, and insecure, and conscientiousness because it is associated with being careful, thorough, responsible, organized, as well as being hardworking, achievement-oriented, and persistent. These qualities correlate positively with performance motivation. 3. If you were denied a job because of your score on a personality test, what would be your reaction? Students may say they would think that the test was flawed because they have emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness, the qualities most suited to success in the workplace. If I were denied a job based on a personality test score, I would feel disappointed and question the fairness of relying solely on such tests for hiring decisions. While understanding the need for cultural fit, I believe personality tests shouldn't overshadow skills and qualifications. I'd seek feedback to understand the decision better and reflect on how my personality may influence future opportunities. 4. If your supervisor exhibited bullying behaviors, what would you do? Students could follow the suggestions offered in the Improve Your Skills feature. If the person were a control freak, they would avoid direct suggestions; let them think new ideas are their own; not criticize them; build a relationship with a mentor; and document work. If the situation became too stressful, students could suggest a person could transfer or leave, after filing a complaint. If my supervisor exhibited bullying behaviors, I would first document the incidents and assess whether it's a recurring issue. I'd try to address the situation calmly by having a private conversation, expressing how their behavior affects me. If the bullying continues, I would escalate the issue to HR or a higher authority, following the company's grievance procedures. Protecting my well-being and maintaining professionalism would be my priorities. 5. Which of Gardner’s multiple intelligences do you feel are most important for managers? Answers will vary. Some may think linguistic intelligence is the most important form of intelligence for managers because they have to communicate their vision effectively to the employees and motivate them to carry out the organization’s goals and strategies. For managers, several of Gardner’s multiple intelligences are particularly important: 1. Interpersonal Intelligence: Crucial for understanding, motivating, and communicating effectively with employees, fostering teamwork, and resolving conflicts. 2. Intrapersonal Intelligence: Helps managers reflect on their own emotions and motivations, enhancing self-awareness and emotional regulation in leadership. 3. Logical-Mathematical Intelligence: Important for problem-solving, decision-making, and analyzing data to make informed strategic choices. These intelligences combined help managers navigate both people and processes effectively. 6. Do you think emotional intelligence is important to managers? How would you assess emotional intelligence in deciding who to promote to a managerial position? Emotional intelligence is important to managers because as Daniel Goldman explains: emotional intelligence is “the capacity for recognizing our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions well in ourselves and in our relationships.” The five dimensions of EI (self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills) make the difference between strong and weak managers. I would assess EI of an employee by observing workplace behavior, which would serve as a basis for a promotion to a managerial position. 7. If you were a manager, what individual differences would be important to you in hiring an assistant? Why? Students’ answers will vary here. Some may say they would hire someone with emotional intelligence and conscientiousness because these individual differences have shown to correlate positively with motivation at work. As a manager, key individual differences important in hiring an assistant would be: 1. Dependability: Reliability is crucial for ensuring tasks are completed on time and with consistency. 2. Attention to Detail: Precision in handling tasks reduces errors and enhances overall efficiency. 3. Communication Skills: Strong interpersonal and written communication are vital for coordinating with others and conveying information clearly. 4. Adaptability: The ability to handle changing priorities and multitask is essential in a dynamic work environment. These traits ensure that the assistant can support the manager effectively, contributing to smooth operations. GROUP EXERCISE – Strengths-Based Development Learning Objective: This exercise incorporates many ideas contained in this chapter with the main point reinforcing the fact that each individual is different. Intelligence is a related concept in this situation and identifying other personality traits present when deciding the co-op’s course of action. Summary: When drought threatened the survival of Ohio farming co-op Auglaize Provico, CEO Larry Hammond realized that he would have to change the business model. Hammond then implemented strengths-based development to leverage the unique strengths and talents of each employee. The strengths approach recognizes that everyone has different talents and natural patterns of thought, feeling, and behavior. Recognizing and building on those talents with pertinent skills and knowledge creates strengths. Auglaize’s management had previously used a “deficit” development approach, spending a lot of time identifying employees’ weaknesses and trying to correct them. This meant that a lot of Auglaize’s management was relatively negative. Hammond wanted to change that approach. Every employee in the co-op took an assessment to measure and identify his or her top five talents, and received at least two consultations on their individual strengths. This enabled Auglaize to build on what its employees naturally do best. Employees became more engaged, productive, and energized, and the organization became more successful. Task: Groups of 3-5 can answer the following questions and then present their answers in a class discussion, or simply discuss the questions as a class. 1. Do you think it is better to focus on assessing and developing employees’ weaknesses, or to focus on their strengths? Why? Students mostly will answer focusing on strengths is better. The idea that workers should “fix” their weaknesses is common, but it can be problematic because attempts to fix weaknesses take time, attention, and energy away from maximizing naturally powerful talents. I believe it is better to focus on developing employees' strengths while also addressing critical weaknesses. Strengths are where employees excel, and leveraging them can boost performance, engagement, and job satisfaction. However, ignoring significant weaknesses might hinder overall growth or effectiveness in certain roles. A balanced approach allows for maximizing potential while ensuring areas that could limit success are improved. This creates a more well-rounded and confident workforce. 2. Why would strengths-based development increase employee engagement? Answers will vary but there should be a reference to the statement in the fact that employees enjoy using their talents and doing something well instead of struggling against their weaknesses to produce mediocre work. Strengths-based development increases employee engagement because it allows individuals to focus on tasks they excel at and enjoy, leading to greater job satisfaction and motivation. When employees are encouraged to use their strengths, they feel valued and confident, which enhances their connection to their work and the organization. This approach fosters a positive work environment, reduces burnout, and increases commitment, as employees are more likely to be invested in roles where they can shine and contribute meaningfully. 3. If you were a manager, how might you interact with employees differently if you were using strengths-based development rather than deficit-based development? Answers will vary widely but the strengths-based approach will contain positive actions while the deficit-based approach focuses on fixing weaknesses. As a manager using strengths-based development, I would focus on identifying and amplifying each employee's unique talents, assigning tasks that align with their strengths. My interactions would emphasize recognition and encouragement, celebrating successes and providing opportunities for growth in areas where they naturally excel. Instead of constantly addressing weaknesses, I would offer constructive feedback that helps employees manage or complement their limitations, perhaps by partnering with others whose strengths balance out these gaps. This approach fosters positivity, confidence, and collaboration, creating a more motivated and engaged team. VIDEO EXERCISE Barcelona Restaurant Group Summary: Barcelona Restaurant Group is always trying to attract and retain only those employees who reinforce its service-oriented culture and provide top quality customer service. The manager being interviewed in the video is constantly recruiting and hiring new employees and letting low performers and poor fits go. He also tries to provide job candidates with a realistic description of the company’s expectations to ensure that they know what they would be getting into if they took a job with the company. Task: As a class, watch “Barcelona” (6:04) and then individually consider the following questions. After students’ have come up with their own ideas, form groups of 4-5 people to discuss their insights. Be sure to have each group nominate someone to serve as a spokesperson to share their ideas with the class. 1. How does the Barcelona Restaurant Group focus on fit? What types of fit does Barcelona try to optimize when hiring? Barcelona focuses on fit by attempting to hire employees who already possess the right qualities rather than attempting to train those qualities into their existing employees. Barcelona seeks employees who are happy and exude a positive attitude to customers. Prospective employees who have these qualities exhibit person-organization fit: the fit between an employee and the philosophies of the organization. At the same time, person-job fit – the fit between an employee and her position within the organization – is also crucial, as Barcelona managers aren’t shy about firing underperforming employees. 2. How does sending managerial candidates on a $100 “Shop” serve as a realistic job preview? Explain why you think this would or would not be effective in helping job candidates assess their fit with the Barcelona Restaurant Group. The “Shop” is an assignment in which prospective employees must spend $100 at a Barcelona restaurant or two and write an essay about the experience. The purpose of a realistic job preview is to present both positive and potentially negative information to job candidates in order to provide accurate information, build trust, and (perhaps most crucially) reduce turnover from employees who quit the job because it wasn’t what they expected. The “Shop” experience demonstrates to the prospective employee the level of customer service that will be expected of them should they accept a job with Barcelona. There can be no better way of conveying the nature of a job than to allow the prospective employee to witness it first hand, so the “Shop” appears to be an effective method. 3. Besides the “Shop”, how else does Barcelona try to maximize employee fit? What other suggestions do you have for the company to improve new hires’ fit with the job and organization? After the “Shop,” Barcelona attempts to maximize employee fit by asking prospective employees to pretend that they have been working for the restaurant for six months and take a tour of duty as a floor manager. This exercise gives the employer a clear picture of who they’re going to get if they close the deal on the hire. The second part of this question is open-ended, so accept a diversity of answers from students provided there is sufficient justification. In this author’s humble opinion, one way to promote employee fit at Barcelona would be to have all prospective new hires watch this video. Not many people would want to work for an employer who appears to be proud of having 60 to 70 percent turnover in the elusive pursuit of ever-better employees, but the kind of person who would relish the challenge would probably be a great fit for Barcelona. Now What? While waiting for a phone call with two subordinates, imagine that another subordinate walks into the room and has a loud, frustrated outburst after being unable to find something. The other employees in the room clearly feel uncomfortable as a result of this behavior. What do you say or do? Go to this chapter’s “Now What?” video, watch the challenge video, and choose a response. Be sure to also view the outcomes of the two responses you didn’t choose. Discussion Questions 1. Which aspects of management and organizational behavior discussed in this chapter are illustrated in these videos? Explain your answer. Management concepts: The ability to understand what others think and feel, knowing how to appropriately persuade and motivate them, and knowing how to resolve conflicts and forge cooperation are important skills for successful managers. Organizational Behavior concepts: personality; emotional stability; individual differences, emotional intelligence •Personality/ emotional stability: The Big Five is one of the more established personality frameworks. One personality dimension is emotional stability, associated with not being anxious and angry. Ken exemplifies the opposite trait which is neuroticism. When Ken was transferred to curb his disruptive behavior (incorrect response #2), there was nothing but complaints about Ken’s emotional control, and the team’s performance dropped because of the distraction. •Individual differences: Type A personalities like Ken are impatient and uptight. By understanding Ken’s personality type, Alex could handle a potential source of work conflict (correct response). As Alex explains to Ken, “I hope that you are open to letting me coach you or attending an emotion management seminar to learn strategies for coping with your emotions more constructively.” High Type As need greater stimulation and over schedule themselves. Ken says, “I care about my work, and I just get frustrated because I care!” •Emotional intelligence: EI includes self-awareness and self-management, managing one’s own emotions and impulses. When Ken can’t find something, he walks into the back of the room and has a mini tantrum. Ken has low level of EI. He is unaware that his outbursts are inappropriate in the workplace, and he lacks self-control. Ken agreed to get coaching because he didn’t realize how he was coming across. As Ken explained, “If I get frustrated I know I show it, but that’s only natural.” 2. Which do you feel is more important at work, an employee’s behavior or performance? Why? An employee’s behavior and performance are both important at work because behavior affects performance. Negative emotions, such as anxiety or frustration, result in diminished learning and performance. Ken’s lack of emotional control caused his team’s performance to drop. Allowing Ken’s negative behavior to continue (incorrect response #1) led to negative responses in the other employees. They felt upset and worried. As Mary explained, “I think I have to quit before he hurts someone….” Research has shown that conscientiousness is positively related to performance and that emotionally stable, agreeable, and conscientious people set higher goals. Following his coaching sessions Alex, Ken started to get frustrated when Mary’s design was chosen, but caught himself and got his behavior under control. “I spent a lot of time on my design. Mary’s is also good. .….. We’re a team and this is what’s best for all of us!” 3. As a manager, what else might you do to effectively handle this situation? The manager should continue to develop a strong organizational culture that is supportive of employees. Strong organizational cultures decrease the influence of personality on employee behaviors by creating clear guidelines for employee behavior. Evidence shows that components of EI can be developed. As a manager, it is important to make every effort to develop EI in Ken and in the other employees. Also, as part of the hiring process, the manager could ask job candidates to take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, a personality inventory. In this way the manager would help prospective employees understand themselves and match their jobs to their personalities. Chapter Four – Individual Values, Perceptions, and Reactions Overview Chapter 3 introduced the concept of individual differences and explored personality, intelligence, and learning styles. This chapter continues our focus on individual behavior in organizations. We begin with a discussion of attitudes, examining how attitudes are formed and changed, cognitive dissonance, and three key work-related attitudes. Next we look at how values and emotions affect organizational behavior. The role of perception, especially as it relates to issues of fairness and trust, is then discussed. Finally, our chapter concludes with a section devoted to stress in organizations—its causes and consequences and how it can be managed. Learning Outcomes After studying this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Discuss how attitudes are formed, describe the meaning of cognitive dissonance, and identify and describe three important work-related attitudes. 2. Describe the role and importance of values and emotions in organizational behavior. 3. Describe basic perceptual processes and how perception affects fairness, justice, and trust in organizations. 4. Discuss the nature of stress, identify the basic causes and consequences of stress, and describe how stress can be managed. Real World Challenge: Attitude is a Choice at Pike Place Fish Market Summary: John Yokoyama did not plan on owning Seattle’s Pike Place Fish Market. As a manager, he demanded results from his employees and came down hard on their mistakes. He emulated the previous owner’s negative attitudes, anger, and fear-based management style. No one working there was having fun, including Yokoyama. As his business struggled, employee turnover was high and morale was low. Real World Challenge: Yokoyama asks for advice on improving his employees’ attitudes. Real World Response: To revive his business, Yokohama decided to share his vision of being world famous with his employees, and empowered them to pursue this vision. He gave his employees permission to have fun with their jobs and to perform their best by bringing their whole selves to work every day. The market has been featured on numerous television shows, and was even named one of the most fun places to work in America by CNN. Chapter Outline I. ATTITUDES IN ORGANIZATIONS People’s attitudes obviously affect their behavior in organizations. Attitudes are complexes of beliefs and feelings that people have about specific ideas, situations, or other people. A. How Attitudes Are Formed Attitudes are formed by a variety of forces, including our personal values, our experiences, and our personalities. Any of the “Big Five” or individual personality traits discussed in Chapter 3 may also influence our attitudes. Attitudes are usually viewed as stable dispositions to behave toward objects in a certain way. As illustrated in Figure 4.1, attitudes contain three components: cognition, affect, and intention. Cognition is the knowledge a person presumes to have about something. This “knowledge” may be true, partially true, or totally false. Cognitions are based on perceptions of truth and reality, and, as we note later, perceptions agree with reality to varying degrees. A person’s affect is his or her feelings toward something. In many ways, affect is similar to emotion—it is something over which we have little or no conscious control. Intention guides a person’s behavior. Intentions are not always translated into actual behavior, however. Some attitudes, and their corresponding intentions, are much more central and significant to an individual than others. You may intend to do one thing (take a particular class) but later alter your intentions because of a more significant and central attitude (fondness for sleeping late). B. Cognitive Dissonance Suppose that you strongly believe that all companies need to be both profitable and environmentally responsible, and that you are the new CEO of a company that is a terrible polluter. You learn that reducing your company’s carbon emissions would be so expensive that the company would no longer be profitable. What would you do? Cognitive dissonance is an incompatibility or conflict between behavior and an attitude or between two different attitudes When people experience dissonance, they often use one of four approaches to cope with it. Using the scenario above, these would include: 1. You can change your behavior and reduce the company’s carbon emissions. 2. You can reduce the felt dissonance by reasoning that the pollution is not so important when compared to the goal of running a profitable company. 3. You can change your attitude toward pollution to decrease your belief that pollution is bad. 4. You can seek additional information to better reason that the benefits to society of manufacturing the products outweigh the societal costs of polluting. Interestingly, though, sometimes people are aware of their dissonance but make a conscious decision to not reduce it. This decision would be influenced by these three things: 1. Your perception of the importance of the elements that are creating the dissonance. If the elements involved in the dissonance are less important to you, it is easier to ignore. 2. The amount of influence you feel you have over these elements. If the Board of Directors blocks your plans, it is easier to rationalize the dissonance and not take action. 3. The rewards involved in the dissonance. Rewards for dissonance tend to decrease our reactions to it. C. Attitude Change Attitudes are not as stable as personality attributes. For example, new information may change attitudes. Likewise, if the object of an attitude changes, a person’s attitude toward that object may also change. Attitudes can also change when the object of the attitude becomes less important or less relevant to the person. Finally, as noted earlier, individuals may change their attitudes as a way to reduce cognitive dissonance. Deeply rooted attitudes that have a long history are, of course, resistant to change. D. Key Work-Related Attitudes People in an organization form attitudes about many different things. Of course, some of these attitudes are more important than others. Especially important attitudes are job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee engagement. 1. Job Satisfaction Our job satisfaction reflects our attitudes and feelings about our job. As illustrated in Figure 4.2, the factors that have the greatest influence on job satisfaction are the work itself, attitudes, values, and personality. Satisfaction with the nature of the work itself is the largest influence on job satisfaction. Challenging work, autonomy, variety, and job scope also increase job satisfaction. As a manager, if you want to increase your subordinates’ job satisfaction, focus first on improving the nature of the work they do. Our attitudes and values about work also influence our job satisfaction. Someone with a negative attitude toward work is less likely to be satisfied with any job than someone with a positive attitude toward work. Interestingly, our job satisfaction is somewhat stable over time, even when we change jobs or employers. Research evidence suggests that differences in job satisfaction are due in part to differences in employees’ genetics and personality. In particular, core self-evaluation, extroversion, and conscientiousness influence job satisfaction. Are happy employees really more productive employees? The answer is yes. And the positive relationship between job satisfaction and job performance is even stronger for complex, professional jobs. Job satisfaction positively influences employees’ attitudes and organizational citizenship behaviors. Conversely, job dissatisfaction is related to higher absenteeism and turnover, as well as to other withdrawal behaviors such as lateness, drug abuse, grievances, and retirement decisions. 2. Organizational Commitment Organizational commitment reflects the degree to which an employee identifies with the organization and its goals and wants to stay with the organization. There are three ways we can feel committed to an employer: a. Affective commitment Is a positive emotional attachment to the organization and strong identification with its values and goals. Affective commitment leads employees to stay with an organization because they want to, and is related to higher performance. b. Normative commitment Occurs when an employee feels obliged to stay with an organization for moral or ethical reasons. Normative commitment is related to higher performance and leads employees to stay with an organization because they feel they should. c. Continuance commitment Refers to an employee staying with an organization because of the perceived high economic and/or social costs involved with leaving. Continuance commitment leads employees to stay with an organization because they feel that they have to. 3. Employee Engagement Employee engagement is “a heightened emotional and intellectual connection that an employee has for his/her job, organization, manager, or coworkers that, in turn, influences him/her to apply additional discretionary effort to his/her work.” Engaged employees give their full effort to their jobs, often going beyond what is required because they are passionate about the firm and about doing their jobs well. Rather than wanting to do the work and wanting to do their best, disengaged workers feel they have to do the work, and generally do only what they have to do as a result. High employee engagement is related to superior business performance. As a manager, remember that the drivers of employee engagement can differ from the drivers of employee attraction and retention—what gets employees into an organization is not the same as what keeps them engaged and keeps them from leaving. Engagement is enhanced when employees: • Have clear goals and roles • Have the resources needed to do a good job • Get meaningful feedback on their performance • Are able to use their talents • Are recognized for doing a good job • Have positive relationships with coworkers • Have opportunities to learn and grow • Have supportive leadership II. VALUES AND EMOTIONS IN ORGANIZATIONS Values are ways of behaving or end-states that are desirable to a person or to a group. Values can be conscious or unconscious. Work values influence important individual and organizational outcomes including performance and retention, and are often considered to be important work outcomes in themselves. A company leader’s personal values affect the firm’s business strategy and all aspects of organizational behavior including staffing, reward systems, manager–subordinate relationships, communication, conflict management styles, and negotiation approaches. Personal values also influence ethical choices. A. Types of Values Values can be described as terminal or instrumental, and as intrinsic or extrinsic. 1. Terminal and Instrumental Values Terminal values reflect our long-term life goals, and may include prosperity, happiness, a secure family, and a sense of accomplishment. Terminal values can change over time depending on our experiences and accomplishments. Instrumental values are our preferred means of achieving our terminal values or our preferred ways of behaving. Terminal values influence what we want to accomplish; instrumental values influence how we get there. The stronger an instrumental value is, the more we act on it. 2. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Work Values Intrinsic work values relate to the work itself. Most people need to find some personal intrinsic value in their work to feel truly satisfied with it. Extrinsic work values are related to the outcomes of doing work. Employees who work to earn money or to have health benefits are satisfying extrinsic work values. B. Conflicts among Values Intrapersonal, interpersonal, and individual-organization value conflicts all influence employee attitudes, retention, job satisfaction, and job performance. At some point in their career, many managers experience an intrapersonal value conflict between the instrumental value of ambition and the terminal value of happiness. People are generally happier and less stressed when their instrumental and terminal values are aligned. Unlike intrapersonal value conflicts, which are internal to an individual, interpersonal value conflicts occur when two different people hold conflicting values. Interpersonal value conflicts are often the cause of personality clashes and other disagreements. As a manager, it is important to remember that people’s constellations of instrumental and terminal values differ. These differences can lead to differences in work styles, work preferences, and reactions to announcements or events. Finally, just as two different employees’ values can conflict, an employee’s values can conflict with the values of the organization, creating individual-organization value conflict. Lower individual-organization value conflict leads to greater job satisfaction, higher performance, lower stress, and greater job commitment. C. How Values Differ around the World Global differences in values can also lead to different managerial behaviors. For example, Latin Americans tend to hire competent family members whenever possible. Managers in the U.S. tend to strongly value individual achievement rather than family ties. Values are influenced by culture. Research has found that a large number of basic values can be condensed into two major dimensions that vary across cultures: (1) traditional/secular-rational values reflect the contrast between societies in which religion is very important and those in which it is not. (2) survival/self-expression values. emphasize economic and physical security. Figure 4.3 illustrates how these two major dimensions of values differ in a variety of countries. D. The Role of Emotions in Behavior Emotions also play an important role in organizations. Employees who effectively manage their emotions and moods can create a competitive advantage for a company. We all experience emotions at work. Our behaviors are not guided solely by conscious, rational thought. In fact, emotion often plays a larger role in our behaviors than does conscious reasoning. Emotions are intense, short-term physiological, behavioral, and psychological reactions to a specific object, person, or event that prepare us to respond to it. Let’s break this definition down into its four important elements: 1. Emotions are short events or episodes and relatively short-lived. 2. Emotions are directed at something or someone; differentiating them from moods. 3. Emotions are experienced; we feel emotion. 4. Emotions create a state of physical readiness through physiological reactions. Why is understanding the role of emotions important to organizations? First, because emotions are malleable, effective employees and managers know how to positively influence their own emotions and the emotions of others. Second, emotions influence both the creation and maintenance of our motivation to engage or to not engage in certain behaviors. Third, research has found that emotion can influence turnover, decision making, leadership, helping behaviors, and teamwork behaviors. Effective leaders use emotion to generate positive follower behaviors. E. Affect and Mood Although the cause of emotions tends be obvious, the cause of mood tends to be more unfocused and diffused. Moods are short-term emotional states that are not directed toward anything in particular. Our mood at the start of a workday influences how we see and react to work events, which influences our performance. Our moods can be influenced by others. Workgroups tend to experience shared group moods when they can display mood information to each other through facial, vocal, and behavioral cues. Changing group membership in a way that changes the manner in which coworkers interact can change the amount and type of mood information members get from each other and influence employees’ moods. Affectivity represents our tendency to experience a particular mood or to react to things with certain emotions The two dominant dimensions of mood are positive affect, which reflects a combination of high energy and positive evaluation characterized by emotions like elation, and negative affect, which comprises feelings of being upset, fearful, and distressed. As shown in Figure 4.4, positive and negative affect are not opposites, but are two distinct dimensions. Affect tends to be somewhat dispositional and fairly stable over time. Negative affect is related to lower organizational citizenship behaviors, greater withdrawal and counterproductive work behaviors, lower job satisfaction, and greater injuries. Higher positive affect is related to increased creativity, openness to new information, and efficient decision making. Positive affectivity also increases the likelihood of cooperation strategies in negotiations, improving the results. III. PERCEPTION IN ORGANIZATIONS Perception is the set of processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment People perceive the same things in very different ways. Moreover, people often assume that reality is objective and that we all perceive the same things in the same way. Since perception plays a role in a variety of workplace behaviors, managers should understand basic perceptual processes. Through perceptual processes, the receiver assimilates the varied types of incoming information for the purpose of interpreting it. A. Basic Perceptual Processes Two basic perceptual processes are particularly relevant to managers—selective perception and stereotyping. 1. Selective Perception Selective perception is the process of screening out information that we are uncomfortable with or that contradicts our beliefs. 2. Stereotyping Stereotyping is categorizing or labeling people on the basis of a single attribute. Certain forms of stereotyping can be useful and efficient. Common attributes from which people often stereotype are race and sex. Of course, stereotypes along these lines are inaccurate and can be harmful. B. Errors in Perception As you might expect, errors may creep into how we interpret the things we perceive. Stereotyping and selection perception are often the underlying causes of these errors, but other factors may also come into play. Perception shortcuts, for example, may play a role. One perception shortcut is categorization, which reflects our tendency to put things into groups or categories. We then exaggerate the similarities within and the differences between the groups. After we put people into categories, selective perception leads to selectively interpreting what we see based on our interests, expectations, experience, and attitudes. Selective perception reinforces stereotypes as the perceiver focuses on information and behaviors that confirm rather than negate the assigned stereotype. Managers need to be aware of this bias in order to evaluate subordinates more objectively and accurately. The halo effect is when we form a general impression about something or someone based on a single (typically good) characteristic. The contrast effect occurs when we evaluate our own or another person’s characteristics through comparisons with other people we have recently encountered who rank higher or lower on the same characteristics. Projection occurs when we project our own characteristics onto other people. First impression bias may also be relevant. Research has found that not only do we tend to avoid people after we have had a negative reaction to, but also negative impressions are harder to change than positive ones. First impressions are formed quickly. Once we form wrong impressions, they are likely to persist. Our impressions and expectations of others also can become self-fulfilling prophecies. If we categorize a person as untrustworthy, we are likely to treat that individual with suspicion and distrust. These actions then evoke appropriate guarded reactions from the other person, whose reactions serve to confirm our initial impressions. C. Perception and Attribution Attribution refers to the way we explain the causes of our own as well as other people’s behaviors and achievements, and understand why people do what they do. As shown in Figure 4.5, we rely on three rules to evaluate whether to assign an internal or an external attribution to someone’s behavior or outcome: 1. Consistency – leads to internal attributions 2. Distinctiveness – low distinctiveness leads to internal attributions 3. Consensus – a low consensus points to internal attributions A related aspect of attribution is self-handicapping. Self-handicapping occurs when people create obstacles for themselves that make success less likely. Examples include using drugs and alcohol, refusing to practice, and reducing effort. These behaviors may sound silly, but they are very real and serve to protect the person’s sense of self-competence. Focusing on effort attributions and developing feelings of self-efficacy help overcome this behavior. Attributing success to internal causes builds self-efficacy and increases the motivation to try hard and persist in the face of failure. D. Perception and Fairness, Justice, and Trust Perception and perceptual processes play a major role in how people feel about fairness, justice, and trust. In organizations, perceptions of unfairness (also referred to as injustice) can exist in numerous situations such as layoffs and downsizings, hiring and promotion decisions, union negotiations, and even simple organizational change. The term organizational fairness refers to employees’ perceptions of organizational events, policies, and practices as being fair or not fair. Why should you care about fairness? You should care because perceptions of fairness affect a wide variety of employee attitudes and behaviors including satisfaction, commitment, trust, and turnover. A number of negative behaviors can result from perceptions of unfairness, including theft, sabotage, and other unethical behaviors. Perceived unfairness also increases the chances that employees will file lawsuits against their employers. As a manager, it is critical to remember that it is insufficient to just be fair; you must also be perceived as fair by your subordinates. Understanding fairness is important for ethical reasons as well. Failure to meet employees’ fairness expectations can lead them to engage in unethical behavior Global Issues: How Culture Can Influence Attributions Summary: In intercultural interactions, the interpretations of behaviors are often more important than the actual behaviors. Because Western cultures emphasize individualism, people prefer dispositional explanations, whereas people from collectivist cultures prefer situational explanations. One study showed American and Chinese participants a picture of a fish swimming in front of a group of fish. More American than Chinese participants attributed the cause to be internal rather than external. This shows how people with different cultural orientations perceive themselves in their environment. Westerners see themselves as independent entities and therefore notice individual objects more than contextual details. Understanding coworkers’ behaviors requires understanding of one’s subjective culture. Attributional training can help us understand the appropriate attributions for the behaviors of diverse coworkers. 1. Distributive Fairness Distributive fairness refers to the perceived fairness of the outcome received, including resource distributions, promotions, hiring and layoff decisions, and raises. Distributive fairness relates only to the outcome received, not to the fairness of the process that generated the decision. 2. Procedural Fairness Procedural fairness addresses the fairness of the procedures used to generate the outcome. Why does procedural fairness matter so much? There are two reasons. First, employees use perceptions of the current decision-making procedures to predict how they will likely fare in the organization in the future. Second, fair procedures signal that employees are valued and accepted by the organization. 3. Interactional Fairness Interactional fairness is whether the amount of information about the decision and the process was adequate, and the perceived fairness of the interpersonal treatment and explanations received during the decision-making process. Deception or abusive words or actions can be seen as having low interactional fairness. Interactional fairness describes two specific types of interpersonal treatment. The first type is interpersonal fairness, which reflects the degree to which people are treated with politeness, dignity, and respect by authorities or third parties involved in executing procedures or determining outcomes. The second type is informational fairness, which focuses on the extent to which employees receive adequate information and explanations about decisions affecting their working lives. It is important that a high degree of interactional fairness exist in the relationship between a supervisor and a subordinate. Low interactional fairness can lead to feelings of resentment toward either the supervisor or the organization. 4. Perception and Trust Trust is the expectation that another person will not act to take advantage of us regardless of our ability to monitor or control them. Trust is critical to long-term relationships and is positively related to job performance. Trusting work relationships enable employees to focus on their work and not waste time and energy “watching their backs.” Trust is particularly important to the developmental stages of relationships, and is positively related to a company’s financial performance. CASE STUDY: What to Do When the Boss Releases His Inner Toddler Summary: The case begins by outlining a scenario of VPs reporting monthly sales when the president of the company throws a chair at a VP reporting low monthly sales results, stating: ‘Next time, I won’t miss.’ Consultant Lynn Taylor calls bosses like this Terrible Office Tyrants, or TOTs. Managers who can’t control their power when they’re placed under stress. Taylor provides 20 common traits characterizing TOTs, including bragging and bullying. Taylor offers some concrete coping techniques for subordinates of TOTS including putting everything in writing and be a star performer. 1. According to some experts, the sort of behavior recorded here is more prevalent in the business world than in the rest of society. Assuming that this is true, why do you suppose that’s the case? Answers will vary but some possible arguments are that persons exhibiting this behavior likely would exhibit the same behaviors in their private lives but are forced into unwanted confrontations in a business setting that they could easily avoid in private. If this is happening more in business settings than in other industries, it could be that other industries have stricter controls to keep persons exhibiting these behaviors from climbing to positions with much authority. A teacher, for example, would not hold their position for very long if they threw a chair at a student. There are many other possible answers. 2. Are you something of a perfectionist? Are you easily frustrated? How well suited are you – at this point in your life – to the task of managing other people? Answers will vary of course but there should be some recognition that easily frustrated perfectionists are not (yet) managerial material. Although, that does not mean the same student could not control these attributes and become a better suited manager in the future. 3. How might attitudes, values, and perceptions affect the behaviors illustrated in this case? Attitudes are formed by a variety of forces, including the Big Five personality traits. The chair throwing president likely is highly disagreeable and highly neurotic. The leader is letting emotions dictate his actions. The observers, and/or recipients of this behavior are likely to develop negative attitudes toward the president and depending on the strength of the conflict with their values, may choose to leave the company. The president was viewing low sales results from one perspective, much different than the VP presenting the results. Fellow VPs are not perceiving any fairness and likely losing trust in the president. 4. How would stress come into play? The president is obviously under stress and may be in the phase of burnout, hence the chair throwing. The person is likely dealing with role demands beyond his capabilities. This person is not showing effective coping mechanisms. IV. STRESS IN ORGANIZATIONS The finally element of individual behavior we will discuss in this chapter is stress. Many people think of stress as a simple problem. In reality, however, stress is complex and often misunderstood. A. The Nature of Stress The text define stress as a person’s adaptive response to a stimulus that places excessive psychological or physical demands on him or her. Given the underlying complexities of this definition, we need to examine its components carefully. First is the notion of adaptation. People may adapt to stressful circumstances in any of several ways. Second is the role of the stimulus. This stimulus, generally called a stressor, is anything that induces stress. Third, stressors can be either psychological or physical. Finally, the demands the stressor places on the individual must be excessive for stress to actually result. 1. The Stress Process Much of what we know about stress today can be traced to the pioneering work of Hans Selye whose most important contributions were his identification of the general adaptation syndrome and the concepts of eustress and distress. Figure 4.6 offers a graphical representation of the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) which identifies three stages of response to a stressor: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. The first stage is called “alarm.” At this point, the person may feel some degree of panic and begin to wonder how to cope. If the stressor is too extreme, the person may simply be unable to cope with it. In most cases, however, the individual gathers his or her strength (physical or emotional) and begins to resist the negative effects of the stressor, stage two. Prolonged exposure to a stressor without resolution may bring on phase three of the GAS: exhaustion. At this stage, the person literally gives up and can no longer fight the stressor. 2. Distress and Eustress One type of stress, eustress, is the pleasurable stress that accompanies position events, such as a bonus or a promotion. Of course, there is also negative stress. Called distress, the unpleasant stress that accompanies negative events, what most people think of when they hear the word stress. Remember that stress can be either good or bad. It can motivate and stimulate us, or it can lead to any number of dangerous side effects. B. Common Causes of Stress Many things can cause stress. Figure 4.7 shows two broad categories: organizational stressors and life stressors. It also shows three categories of stress consequences: individual consequences, organizational consequences, and burnout. 1. Organizational Stressors Organizational stressors are various factors in the workplace that can cause stress. Four general sets of organizational stressors are task demands, physical demands, role demands, and interpersonal demands. Task demands are stressors associated with the specific job a person performs. Some occupations are by nature more stressful than others, or have unhealthy conditions, lack of job security, or even job overload. We should note that the opposite of overload may also be undesirable. As Figure 4.8 shows, low task demands can result in boredom and apathy just as overload can cause tension and anxiety. The physical demands of a job are its physical requirements on the worker; these demands are a function of the physical characteristics of the setting and the physical tasks the job involves. One important element is temperature. Others include whether the job requires strenuous labor, the design of the office, amount of social interaction, poor lighting, or shift work. Role demands can also be stressful to people in organizations. A role is a set of expected behaviors associated with a particular position in a group or organization. As such, it has both formal (i.e., job-related and explicit) and informal (i.e., social and implicit) requirements. Individuals perceive role expectations with varying degrees of accuracy and then attempt to enact that role. A final set of organizational stressors consists of three interpersonal demands: group pressures, leadership, and interpersonal conflict. Group pressures may include pressure to restrict output, pressure to conform to the group’s norms, and so forth. Leadership style also may cause stress. Suppose an employee needs a great deal of social support from his leader. The leader, however, is quite brusque and shows no concern or compassion for him. This employee will probably feel stressed. Conflicting personalities and behaviors may also cause stress. Conflict can occur when two or more people must work together even though their personalities, attitudes, and behaviors differ. Finally, we should also note that in today’s world many job holders experience stress from a variety of sources simultaneously. It is also the case that stress in organizational settings can be influenced by events that take place outside the organization. An individual dealing with financial problems, a sick child, or the death of a close family member will undoubtedly experience stress from those events. C. Consequences of Stress Referring back to Figure 4.7, stress can produce individual consequences, organizational consequences, and burnout. The authors note that many of the factors listed are obviously interrelated. 1. Individual Consequences The individual consequences of stress, then, are the outcomes that mainly affect the individual, and may produce behavioral, psychological, and medical consequences. The behavioral consequences of stress may harm the person under stress or others. One such behavior is smoking. The psychological consequences of stress relate to a person’s mental health and well-being. When people experience too much stress at work, they may become depressed or find themselves sleeping too much or not enough. The medical consequences of stress affect a person’s physical well-being. Heart disease and stroke, among other illnesses, have been linked to stress. 2. Organizational Consequences Other results of stress have even more direct consequences for organizations. These include decline in performance, withdrawal, and negative changes in attitudes. Employee violence is a potential individual consequence of stress. Another direct organizational consequence of employee stress relates to attitudes. As we just noted, job satisfaction, morale, and organizational commitment can all suffer, along with motivation to perform at high levels. Burnout, another consequence of stress, has clear implications for both people and organizations. Burnout is a general feeling of exhaustion that develops when a person simultaneously experiences too much pressure and has too few sources of satisfaction. D. Managing and Controlling Stress Many strategies have been developed to help manage stress in the workplace. Some are for individuals, and others are geared toward organizations. 1. Individual Coping Strategies Many strategies for helping individuals manage stress have been proposed. Exercise is one method of managing stress. A related method of managing stress is relaxation. Time management is often recommended for managing stress. Somewhat related to time management is the idea of role management, in which the individual actively works to avoid overload, ambiguity, and conflict. A final method for managing stress is to develop and maintain support groups. A support group is simply a group of family members or friends with whom a person can spend time. 2. Organizational Coping Strategies Organizations are also increasingly realizing that they should be involved in managing their employees’ stress. Two basic organizational strategies for helping employees manage stress are institutional programs and collateral programs. Institutional programs for managing stress are undertaken through established organizational mechanisms. The organization’s culture also can be used to help manage stress. Finally, supervision can play an important institutional role in managing stress. A supervisor can be a major source of overload. A collateral stress program is an organizational program specifically created to help employees deal with stress. More and more companies are developing their own programs or adopting existing programs of this type. These programs attack stress indirectly by encouraging employees to exercise, which is presumed to reduce stress. On the negative side, this kind of effort costs considerably more than stress management programs because the firm must invest in physical facilities. Finally, organizations try to help employees cope with stress through other kinds of programs. For example, existing career development programs or programs promoting everything from humor to massage to yoga as antidotes for stress. E. Work-Life Balance 1. Fundamental Work-Life Relationships Work-life relationships can be characterized in any number of ways. Common dimensions would include such things as an individual’s current job (including working hours, job satisfaction, and so forth), his or her career goals (the person’s aspirations, career trajectory, and so forth), interpersonal relations at work (with the supervisor, subordinates, coworkers, and others), and job security. Work-life relationships, then, include any relationships between dimensions of the person’s work life and the person’s personal life. Stress will occur when there is a basic inconsistency or incompatibility between a person’s work and life dimensions. 2. Balancing Work-Life Linkages Balancing work-life linkages is, of course, no easy thing to do. The important thing is to recognize the potential trade-offs in advance so that they can be carefully weighed and a comfortable decision made. Individuals must also recognize the importance of long-term versus short-term perspectives in balancing their work and personal lives. People also have to decide for themselves what they value and what tradeoffs they are willing to make. Summary and Application Attitudes, values and emotions, perception, and stress are all important factors that influence organizational behavior. The three most important job-related attitudes are job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee engagement. There are many different kinds of values that can be held by people. Not surprisingly, then, it is somewhat common for an individual to have conflicting values. Values also differ across cultures in different parts of the globe. Emotions, affect, and mood are also important contributors to behavior. Perception is the set of processes by which a person becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment. Basic perceptual processes include selective perception and stereotyping. Perception and attribution are also closely related. Internal attributions include ability and effort. External attributions include luck, not having sufficient resources, and the interference or help of other people. Stress is an individual’s response to a strong stimulus. Functional stress is the experience of a manageable level of stress for a reasonable period of time that generates positive emotions including satisfaction, excitement, and enjoyment. Dysfunctional stress is an overload of stress from a situation of either under- or over-arousal that continues for too long. The General Adaptation Syndrome outlines the basic stress process. Stress can be caused by task, physical, role, and interpersonal demands. Consequences of stress include organizational and individual outcomes, as well as burnout. Several things can be done to manage stress. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. If your boss was not sure it would be worth the investment to change the company’s hiring practices to include an evaluation of applicants’ attitudes, what would you tell him or her? Students may point out that attitudes and values about work influence job satisfaction. Someone with a negative attitude toward work is less likely to be satisfied with a job than someone with a positive attitude toward work. Happy employees are more productive. The positive relationship between job satisfaction and job performance is even stronger for complex, professional jobs. The financial impact of improving employees’ job satisfaction makes it worthwhile for managers to improve employee attitudes. 2. Do you think that it would be easy to influence a subordinate’s attitudes, values, or emotions? Why? Which would have the largest influence on the employee’s behavior? Why? It is easier to influence a subordinate’s emotions. Attitudes are formed over the course of a person’s lifetime through experiences, family, culture, religion, and socioeconomic factors. Values influence attitudes. Changing employee attitudes toward work takes time. Emotions, on the other hand, change and do not last as long as attitudes. Employees and managers can positively influence their own emotions and the emotions of others. Emotions would have the largest influence on the employee’s behavior because an effective manager can use emotion to generate positive follower behaviors. 3. What are the components of an individual’s attitude? Relate each component to an attitude you currently have about something. From the dispositional view of attitudes, the three components are affect, cognition, and intention. Affect refers to one’s feelings toward something. Cognition is the knowledge the person presumes to have about something. Intention guides an individual’s behavior toward something but may not be translated into actual behavior. 4. Do terminal or instrumental values have a larger influence on your behavior at work? Explain. Terminal values reflect our goals that are subject to change whereas instrumental values are our preferred ways of behaving. Terminal values influence what we want to accomplish; instrumental values influence how we get there. At work, instrumental values have a larger influence because they affect behavior. For example, honesty is an instrumental value that guides behavior in pursuit of the terminal goal of prosperity. 5. Think of a person you know who seems to have positive affectivity. Think of another who has more negative affectivity. How constant are they in their expressions of mood and attitude? Students’ answers should include the identification of a specific person in each case. It should be relatively easy for students to come up with people for each case. The person with positive affectivity consistently displays an upbeat mood and a hopeful attitude, often uplifting those around them even during challenging times. In contrast, the individual with negative affectivity tends to express skepticism and frustration more frequently, often viewing situations through a critical lens. While the positive person usually maintains their optimistic outlook, the negative individual’s mood can fluctuate significantly based on external circumstances, making their expressions less stable. Overall, the positive person's consistent positivity contrasts sharply with the variability seen in the negative person's mood and attitude. 6. How does perception affect behavior? What stereotypes do you form about people? Are they good or bad? Perception is the set of processes by which an individual becomes aware of and interprets information about the environment. People are constantly interacting with others by first perceiving others, then seeing them and hearing their words. Reactions to others are based on what we perceive. Therefore, how we act and react toward others is dependent on how we perceive others. Most people have stereotypes about other people, no matter how hard they may try to conceal or overcome them. The most notable have been the stereotypical views of other ethnic groups. Other stereotypes have been common regarding tall people or short people, people with certain color of hair or skin, and of the opposite gender. Regarding whether they are good or bad, some experts have noted that stereotyping can be a way of simplifying our cognitive processes in terms of remembering things about people. On the other hand, others have suggested that any stereotyping is dangerous because it assumes that everyone in a certain group is similar in every way. 7. Recall a situation in which you made attributions and describe them using the framework supplied in Figure 4.5. Students’ answers will, of course, vary on this question. Some students may have some difficulty identifying the use of the creative process. However, if they really think about it, they may have subconsciously used the creative process. To analyze a situation using the attribution framework, let's consider an example where a colleague missed an important deadline. 1. Observation: My colleague failed to submit their project on time. 2. Attribution Type: • Internal Attribution: I thought the colleague was lazy or disorganized. • External Attribution: I considered that they might have been overwhelmed with other work or facing personal issues. 3. Stability: • Stable: If I believed they were generally disorganized and this would continue to be a problem. • Unstable: If I believed their missed deadline was a one-time issue due to temporary stress. 4. Controllability: • Controllable: If I thought they could manage their time better and chose not to. • Uncontrollable: If I believed external factors, like unexpected workload, contributed to their inability to meet the deadline. Based on this framework, my initial internal attribution might lead to frustration, while considering external factors could foster empathy and understanding. 8. Do you consider yourself a Type A or a Type B person? Why? Do you think a person who is a Type A can change to become more like a Type B? If so, how? Type A people tend to be more competitive, more aggressive, more dedicated to work, and more impatient than Type B people and to have a strong sense of time urgency. Type B people tend to be less competitive, less devoted to work, more patient, and to have a more balanced, relaxed approach to life. Most students probably will categorize themselves as Type A people. Students probably will argue that people indeed have the capacity to change, especially if there are urgent reasons to do so. If a person is experiencing serious stress or burnout as a result of Type A propensities, and if the danger of continuing that lifestyle is clear, the person can change. He or she can slow down, become less aggressive, and try to find a better balance between work and nonwork activities. Figure 7.4 shows five mechanisms for coping with stress—exercise, relaxation, time management, role management, and support groups. 9. What are the major stressors for a student? What consequences are students most likely to suffer as a result of too much stress? Students might identify life stressors such as being away from home for the first time, having to make new friends, and worries about finances and the challenge to “make the family proud.” They might also identify organizational stressors such as noisy dorms, inadequate study facilities, insufficient computer equipment, hot and stuffy classrooms, and work overload. They are likely to suffer burnout. Major stressors for students include academic pressure, time management challenges, financial concerns, social relationships, and future uncertainty. As a result of excessive stress, students may experience mental health issues (anxiety and depression), physical health problems (fatigue and headaches), academic decline (lower grades), relationship strain (isolation or conflicts), and poor coping mechanisms (substance abuse or procrastination). 10. Do you agree that a certain degree of stress is necessary to induce high energy and motivation? Most students will recall examples of people in stressful situations who found the strength to do things they never thought possible. One example is the wizened, elderly man who lifted an auto off the body of his injured son. Student athletes probably will agree that it takes the “big game” or the championship tournament to bring out their best performances. Yes, I agree that a certain degree of stress can be beneficial for inducing high energy and motivation. This type of stress, often referred to as eustress, can enhance focus, improve performance, and drive individuals to meet challenges. It helps create a sense of urgency and encourages goal attainment. However, it's important to balance this stress to prevent it from becoming overwhelming, as excessive stress can lead to burnout and decreased productivity. GROUP EXERCISE – The Effect of Emotion On Team Performance Learning Objective: Explain why emotions are important to organizations. Task: In teams, students role-play a particular emotion. Students identify each team’s role by reading the description below: Role 1: Grouchy, negative affect Role 2: Calm Role 3: Happy, positive affect Role 4: Calm For the next few minutes, each team discusses possible slogans for the field of organizational behavior and identifies its favorite idea. When your instructor tells you, your role will change to the following: Role 1: Calm Role 2: Happy, positive affect Role 3: Calm Role 4: Grouchy, negative affect Teams spend the next few minutes discussing the best ways for the manager of a local McDonald’s restaurant to improve employees’ job engagement and decide on three ideas. Questions: 1. Did your emotion influence your own performance or behavior in your team? 2. Did any emotional contagion occur in your team? If so, was the positive (happy) or negative (grouchy) emotion more contagious? Why do you think this was so? 3. What could a leader do to effectively manage a team’s emotion? Is it worth trying? VIDEO EXERCISE Recycline Preserve: Strategy and the Partnership Advantage Summary: Recycline began in 1996 when founder Eric Hudson designed an innovative toothbrush out of all-recycled material. Today, Recycline’s eco-friendly product line, Preserve, includes a range of personal care items, tableware, and kitchen goods. In 2007, Whole Foods and Recycline launched a line of kitchenware products that included colanders, cutting boards, mixing bowls, and storage containers. Through its various partnerships, Recycline was able to take an untested product and sell it at the nation’s largest and most respected natural foods store. Whole Foods in turn used its experience and resources to ensure the product sold well. 1. What roles do attitudes, values, and emotions play at a firm like Recycline? What role do your existing attitudes about recycling affect how you see a company like Recycline? Student’s answers will vary. At Recycline, attitudes, values, and emotions play crucial roles in shaping the company's culture and customer perceptions. The organization's commitment to sustainability and eco-friendliness reflects a strong corporate value system, which resonates with both employees and consumers who prioritize environmental responsibility. Positive attitudes towards recycling and environmentalism among staff can foster a collaborative and motivated work environment, driving innovation in product development. My existing attitudes about recycling influence my perception of Recycline significantly. If I view recycling as an essential practice for sustainability, I am likely to appreciate and support Recycline’s mission and products. Conversely, if I hold a negative attitude towards recycling, I may be skeptical about the efficacy or value of their eco-friendly initiatives. Thus, personal values shape how I connect with and perceive the company's overall impact. 2. What is your perception of CEO Eric Hudson? On what do you base your perception? What is the public’s perception of green products according to marketing Director C.A. Webb? Why do some people have that perception, and what can Recycline do to change it? Different people will often perceive a person or situation differently, both in what they selectively perceive and how they organize and interpret what is perceived. Students will construct perceptions of Hudson based on the following: their own attitudes and moods, Hudson's laid back appearance and communication cues, and the characteristics of the environment in which the observation is taking place. Due to the limitations on processing information, students may take “perceptual shortcuts,” including the use of schemas and stereotypes. But this may also produce perceptual errors like categorization, selective perception, and the halo effect. Students’ first impressions will form quickly and be resistant to change. In the video, Marketing Director C.A. Webb says that consumers perceive that they have to sacrifice when buying green products. In particular, many people think that eco-friendly products are inferior and more expensive relative to conventional ones. Webb says that for green products to overcome this perception, marketers like Recycline must deliver products that perform as well as non-green products. In addition, green products must be able to compete on price while delivering measurable environmental benefits. 3. Would you want to work for Recycline? Why or why not? Student’s answers will vary for this question. I would want to work for Recycline because of its strong commitment to sustainability and innovation in eco-friendly products. Being part of a company that prioritizes environmental responsibility aligns with my values, and I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to meaningful solutions that address waste and promote recycling. Additionally, the collaborative partnerships, such as with Whole Foods, indicate a supportive and resourceful work environment that fosters growth and success. Overall, working for Recycline would provide a sense of purpose and fulfillment in making a positive impact on the planet. Now What? Imagine meeting with a subordinate who has been working at Happy Time Toys for a month and can’t yet meet the company’s goals. The subordinate tried hard to perform well during the training session to look good compared to the other new hires, but the others are doing a lot better on the job. The subordinate communicates frustration about being unable to learn the new job. What do you say or do? Go to this chapter’s “Now What?” video, watch the challenge video, and choose a response. Be sure to also view the outcomes of the two responses you didn’t choose. OB Concepts Applied: self-efficacy; learning and performance goal orientations; learning styles; person-job fit; supplementary fit; realistic job preview Discussion Questions 1. What attitudes did the employee develop about his performance on the job? How were they formed? Joe felt like he could not perform the job as well as others. He stated that he did well in training and he was trying to out-perform all the other participants. Now that Joe is actually on the job, he is failing to meet his production levels on a daily basis and this causes him to feel that he has not mastered the skills required to do the job. Or he is not performing the steps as efficiently as the other employees. 2. What role do attributions play in how the employee responded to challenges of learning to do his job? What role do attributions play in how a manager might respond to a subordinate’s performance? For Joe, he is trying to explain why he did so well in training yet seems unable to master the job now that he is actually performing the job. Joe sees other workers making their daily production levels with no problem yet he is unable to meet his own daily production levels. Joe admits he focused so much during training on beating others time that he failed to learn how to actually perform the job well. This is a form of self-handicapping, he put obstacles in place to hinder his further advancement. By focusing on the wrong aspect of training, he was setting in place a chain of events that would end in his inability to meet his daily production levels. Attributions come into play for Alex when determining an internal or an external attribution to Joe’s behavior. Joe’s high performance during training points to an inconsistency with his ability to perform the job now. This points to an external attribution. This also appears to be a distinctive outcome, again pointing to an external attribution. Joe’s mistaken focus during training may have been his own fault but nothing a bit of one-on-one training cannot improve. 3. In what ways does fairness influence how the subordinate responded to the situations you viewed? Joe did not feel the “hang in there, it will get better” method was fair because he quit. He left angry after the threat to reassign him to night shift. He responded positively when asked for input and the offer of a mentor for a couple of weeks. Joes perceived this as a fair outcome. 4. What other solutions might you have suggested to address the situation? Explain your answer using concepts form the chapter. Student’s answers will vary. I feel the offer of a two-week mentor or coach is good solution, especially if Joe’s skills seem efficient to perform the job. Maybe offering retraining is another method, or organizing a refresher course and making Joe the teacher. Joe has a good attitude towards his job and fellow employees and he wants to learn. His intentions are correct as he wants to learn the tasks better so he can perform his job more efficiently. Joe seems to be doing everything correctly but he somehow failed when it came to cognition of the job tasks, leading to a cognitive dissonance for Joe. He believed he should be doing much better but that was not happening. Increasing Joe’s cognition of the job tasks should complete the picture. Solution Manual for Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations Ricky W. Griffin, Jean M. Phillips, Stanley M. Gully 9781305501393, 9780357042502