Organizational Behavior Chapter 9

Culture

Shared values, beliefs, motives, identities, and interpretations that result from common experiences of members of a society.

Transmitted across generations

Provide societies with own distinctive personalities

Reflect a feeling of how things "should be done" in a given society

Cultural values

Shared beliefs about desirable end states or modes of conduct in a given culture.

Hofstede's Dimensions

Individualism-Collectivism

Power distance

Uncertainty avoidance

Motivation toward achievement/success

Short-term vs long-term orientation

Indulgence vs restraint

Individualistic (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to be a loosely knit social framework where people take care of themselves and their immediate family.

(Ex: US, Australia, Italy, Argentina)

Collectivistic (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to be a tight social frame-work where people take care of the members of a broader in group and act loyal to it.

(ex: Columbia, Pakistan, South Korea, China)

Low Power Distance (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to prefer that power be distributed uniformly where possible, in a more egalitarian fashion.

(Ex: US, Austria, Ireland, Sweden)

High Power Distance (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to accept the fact that power is usually distributed unequally within organizations.

(Ex: Russia, China, India, France)

Low Uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to tolerate uncertain and ambiguous situations and values unusual ideas and behaviors.

(Ex: United States, Denmark, Sweden, India)

High uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to feel threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and relies on formal rules to create stability.

(Ex: Greece, Russia, Japan, Argentina)

Decisive Motivation toward achievement/success (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to value competition and excellence as a definition of success

(Ex: US, Japan, China, Germany)

Consensus motivation toward achievement/success (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to value consensus and quality of life as a definition of success.

(Ex: Sweden, Netherlands, Thailand, South Korea)

Short-term oriented (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to stress values that are more past- and present-oriented, such as respect for tradition and fulfilling obligations

(Ex: Egypt, Nigeria, Columbia, Venezuela)

Long term oriented (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to stress values that are more future-oriented, such as persistence, prudence, and thrift

(ex: South Korea, Japan, China, Germany)

Indulgent (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to value the expression of desires related to freedom, leisure, and activity.

(Ex: United States, Mexico, Nigeria, Sweden)

Restrained (Hofstede's Dimensions)

The culture tends to value stricter social norms, with a focus on order and regulation

Personality

consists of the structures and propensities inside us that explain our characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior.

Effects of "Big Five" or "OCEAN" framework

Openness to experience (Big Five/OCEAN)

valuable in creative jobs

Agreeableness (Big Five/OCEAN)

communion striving, valuable in customer service jobs

Extraversion (Big Five/OCEAN)

status striving and typically higher on "Positive Affectivity"(positive emotions)

more likely to emerge as leaders and be rated as more effective leaders

Neuroticism (Big Five/OCEAN)

involves higher "Negative Affectivity" (negative emotions)

driven by an external locus of control

(believing that events are driven by luck, chance, fate, etc.)

Conscientiousness (Big Five/OCEAN)

accomplishment striving, valuable in all jobs

moderate positive

Relationship between conscientiousness and job performance

moderate positive

Relationship between conscientiousness and organizational commitment

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Helpful for discussions

Poor reliability over time

Not helpful for predicting outcomes (nearly a zero correlation with job performance)