MGT Exam 3

Personality

the structures and propensities inside a person that explain his or her characteristic patterns of thought, emotion, and behavior

* what a person is like and determines their social reputation
* collection of multiple traits
* comes from both your genes and your environment

Traits

recurring trends in people’s responses to their environment

* adjectives like: responsible, easygoing, polite

Cultural values

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

* how you were raised
* can influence the development and expression of people’s personality traits
* described by adjectives such as traditional, informal, assertive

The big five taxonomy

* conscientiousness
* agreeableness
* neuroticism
* openness to experience
* extraversion

Conscientiousness

* relevant adjectives:
* dependable, organized, reliable, ambitious, hardworking, persevering
* biggest influence on job performance
* employees prioritize accomplishment striving
* correlated to career success, good health

Accomplishment striving

a strong desire to accomplish task-related goals

Agreeableness

* relevant adjectives:
* warm, kind, cooperative, sympathetic, helpful, courteous
* people prioritize communion striving
* not related to performance in all jobs or occupations, but beneficial in service-related jobs

Communion striving

a strong desire to obtain acceptance in personal relationships

Extraversion

* relevant adjectives:
* talkative, sociable, passionate, assertive, bold, dominant
* easiest to judge in zero acquaintance situations
* not related to performance across al jobs or occupations
* people prioritize status striving
* correlated with leadership emergence and effectiveness and with job satisfaction
* people also tend to be high in positive affectivity

Status striving

a strong desire to obtain power and influence within a social structure

Positive affectivity

a dispositional tendency to experience pleasant, engaging moods such as enthusiasm, excitement, and elation

Neuroticism

* relevant adjectives:
* nervous, moody, emotional, insecure, jealous
* second most important to job performance
* synonymous with negative affectivity
* associated with low levels of job satisfaction and happiness in general
* affects how people deal with stress
* strongly related to locus of control

Negative affectivity

tendency to experience unpleasant moods such as hostility, nervousness, annoyance

Differential exposure

being more likely to appraise day-to-day situations as stressful

Differential reactivity

being less likely to believe that one can cope with the stressors experienced on a daily basis

Locus of control

whether people attribute the causes of events to themselves or to the external environment

* neurotic people hold an external locus of control
* less neurotic people hold an internal locus of control

People with an external locus of control tend to believe

* many of the unhappy things in people’s lives are partly due to bad luck
* getting a good job depends mainly on being in the right place at the right time
* many times exam questions tend to be so unrelated to course work that studying is really useless
* this world is run by the few people in power, and there is not much the little guy can do about it
* there’s not much use in trying too hard to please people; if they like you, they like you

People with an internal locus of control tend to believe

* people’s misfortunes results from the mistakes they make
* becoming a success is a matter of hard work; luck has little or nothing to do with it
* in the case of the well-prepared student, there is rarely if ever such a thing as an unfair test
* the average citizen can have an influence in government decisions
* people are lonely because they don’t try to be friendly

Openness to experience

* relevant adjectives:
* curious, imaginative, creative, complex, refined, sophisticated
* also called inquisitiveness, intellectualness, culture
* beneficial in some jobs but not in others; not related to job performance across all occupations
* helpful in jobs that are dynamic, creative, opportunities to learn
* adaptable, good at finding new and better approaches

Myers-Briggs type indicator

originally created to test a theory of psychological types advanced by psychologist Carl Jung. it evaluates individuals on the basis of four types of preferences

RIASEC model

based on interest research. interests are expressions of personality that influence behavior through preferences for certain environment and activities. interests can explain why people are drawn towards some careers and away from others. it suggests that interests can be summarized by six different personality types

Myers-Briggs type indicator

* extraversion versus introversion
* sensing versus intuition
* thinking versus feeling
* judging versus perceiving

Extraversion versus introversion

being energized by people and social interaction vs. being energized by private time and reflection

Sensing versus intuition

preferring clear and concrete facts/data vs. preferring hunches and speculations based on theory and imagination

Thinking versus feeling

approaching decisions with logic and critical analysis vs. approaching decisions with an emphasis on other’s needs and feelings

Judging versus perceiving

approaching tasks by planning and setting goals vs. preferring to have flexibility and spontaneity when performing tasks

RIASEC model

* realistic
* investigative
* artistic
* social
* enterprising
* conventional

realistic

enjoys practical, hands-on, real-world tasks. tend to be frank, practical, determined and rugged

Investigative

enjoys abstract, analytical, theory-oriented tasks. tend to be analytical, intellectual, reserved and scholarly

Artistic

enjoys entertaining and fascinating others using imagination. tends to be original, independent, impulsive and creative

Social

enjoys helping, serving or assisting others. tends to be helpful, inspiring, informative and empathic

Enterprising

enjoys persuading, leading or outperforming others. tends to be energetic, sociable, ambitious and risk-taking

Conventional

enjoys organizing, counting or regulating people or things. tends to be careful, conservative, self-controlled and structured

Hofstede’s dimensions of cultural values

* individualism-collectivism
* power distance
* uncertainty avoidance
* masculinity-feminity
* short-term vs. long-term orientation

Individualistic

the culture is a loosely knit social framework in which people take care of themselves and their immediate family

\-United States, the Netherlands, France

Collectivistic

the culture isa tight social framework in which people take care of the members of a broader in-group and act loyal to it

\-Indonesia, China, West Africa

Low power distance

the culture prefers that power be distributed uniformly where possible, in a more egalitarian fashion

\-United States, Germany, the Netherlands

High power distance

the culture accepts the fact that power is usually distributed unequally within organizations

\-Russia, China, Indonesia

Low uncertainty avoidance

the culture tolerates uncertain and ambiguous situations and values unusual ideas and behaviors

\-United States, Indonesia, the Netherlands

High uncertainty avoidance

the culture feels threatened by uncertain and ambiguous situations and relies on formal rules to create stability

Masculine

the culture values stereotypically male traits such as assertiveness and the acquisition of money and things

\-United States, Japan, Germany

Feminine

the culture values stereotypically female traits such as caring for others and caring about quality of life

\-the Netherlands, Russia, France

Short-term oriented

the culture stresses values that are more past-and present-oriented, such as respect for tradition and fulfilling obligations

\-United States, Russia, West Africa

Long-term oriented

the culture stresses values that are more future-oriented, such as persistence, prudence, and thrift

\-China, Japan, the Netherlands

Indulgent

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

\-United States, Brazil, the Netherlands

Restrained

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

\-China, India, Japan

Effects of conscientiousness on job performance

has a moderate positive effect. employee have a higher level of task performance. more likely to engage in citizenship behavior and less likely to engage in counterproductive behavior

Effects of conscientiousness on organizational commitment

has a moderate positive effect. employee have higher levels of affective commitment and higher levels of normative commitment, no effect on continuance commitment

Application: personality tests

* many companies use personality tests to assess job application as interviewers can’t always assess personality traits during an interview alone
* easy to spot extraversion, agreeableness, openness and harder to identify conscientiousness and neuroticism
* personality test results determine the next step in the hiring process
* a highly controversial type of tests are integrity tests
* focus on predisposition to counterproductive behaviors
* clear purpose and veiled purpose

Integrity test items: clear purpose

assess attitudes toward dishonesty, including confessions of past dishonesty

* would you say that most people lie on their resume
* have you ever taken something home from work without saying anything about it
* if a cashier gave you too much change, do you think you’d point out the error

Integrity test items: veiled purpose

assess general personality traits associated with dishonesty

* I rarely do things impulsively
* I try to avoid hurting people’s feelings
* there are people out there I’d like to get back at

Three classifications of abilities

* cognitive
* emotional
* physical

Cognitive ability

capabilities related to the acquisition and application of knowledge in problem solving

* it’s relevant to most jobs and occupations

Different types of cognitive ability contribute to employee effectiveness

* verbal
* quantitative
* reasoning
* spatial
* perceptual

Verbal ability

refers to capabilities associated with understanding and expressing oral and written communication

* oral comprehension
* written comprehension
* oral expression
* written expression

most important in jobs in which effectiveness depends on understanding and communicating ideas and information to others

Oral comprehension

the ability to understand spoken words and sentences

Written comprehension

the ability to understand written words and sentences

Oral expression

refers to the ability to communicate ideas by speaking

Written expression

refers to the ability to communicate ideas in writing

Quantitative ability

refers to two types of mathematical capabilities

* number facility
* mathematical reasoning

important to jobs and occupations involving statistics, accounting, and engineering

also important to lower-level jobs such as cashiering

Number facility

the capability to do simple math operations such as adding, subtracting, etc.

Mathematical reasoning

refers to the ability to choose and apply formulas to solve problems that involve numbers

Reasoning ability

a diverse set of abilities associated with sensing and solving problems using insight, rules, and logic

* problem sensitivity
* deductive reasoning
* inductive reasoning
* originally

reasoning ability is crucial to diverse jobs including medicine, law and criminal justice, designer, or writer

Problem sensitivity

the ability to sense when there is a problem or one is likely to occur

Deductive reasoning

refers to the use of general rules or hypotheses as a starting point to solve a problem

Inductive reasoning

refers to the ability to generate a hypothesis and plausible solution from pieces of information

Originally

refers to the ability to develop clever, novel ways to solve problems

Spatial ability

capabilities associated with visual and mental representation and manipulation of objects in space

* spatial orientation
* visualization

people with these abilities are good at finding their way without a map or good at interior design or fashion styling

Spatial orientation

a good understanding of where one is relative to other things in the environment

Visualization

the ability to imagine how separate things will look if they are put together in a particular way

Perceptual ability

refers to being able to perceive, understand, and recall patterns of information

* speed and flexibility of closure
* perceptual speed

jobs requiring high perceptual ability include code-breaking, proofreading, sorting or categorizing things

Speed and flexibility of closure

refers to being able to pick out a pattern of information quickly in the presence of distracting information

Perceptual speed

refers to being able to examine and compare numbers, letters, and objects quickly

General cognitive ability

people with higher-than-average verbal abilities also tend to be higher-than-average when it comes to reasoning, quantitative, spatial and perceptual abilities

Application: selecting high cognitive ability employees

one if the most widely used measures of cognitive ability is the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test

* 50 questions in 12 minutes
* a score of 17 is minimum for an unskilled worker
* a score of 21 is average, equivalent to IQ of 100
* a score of 28 is minimum for upper-level managerial and executive work

Emotional intelligence

a set of abilities related to the understanding and use of emotions that affect social functioning

* influences the degree to which people tend to be effective in social situations, regardless of their level of cognitive abilities

Different types of emotional intelligence

* self-awareness
* other awareness
* emotion regulation
* use of emotions

Self-awareness

the appraisal and expression of emotions in oneself

* includes the ability to understand the types of emotions being experienced, the willingness to acknowledge them, and the capability to express them naturally

Example of low self-awareness

someone who doesn’t want to admit to himself or show to others his anxiousness when starting anew job

* not expressing the emotion can increase stress, and behavior can be misinterpreted by others

Other awareness

the appraisal and recognition of emotions in others

refers to the ability of an individual to recognize and understand the emotions that other people are feeling

High other awareness

people are sensitive to others’ feelings and can anticipate the emotions that people will experience in different situations

Low other awareness

people do not effectively sense others’ emotions and may act in a way that worsens a situation

Emotion regulation

the ability to quickly recover from emotional experiences

refers to both negative and positive emotions

Example of emotion regulation

not holding on to a negative encounter with another driver during rush hour

not allowing the good news of a pay raise to interfere with normal workday productivity

Use of emotions

the degree to which people can harness emotions and employ them to improve their chances of being successful in whatever they are seeking to do

when employees harness their positive emotions they can produce solutions that are more creative

Example of use of emotions

psyching oneself up to overcome a challenge is more helpful than giving in to self-doubt

Assessing emotional intelligence

* SAT: style assessments with questions having correct or incorrect answers
* emotional quotient inventory (EQ-i) asks 133 questions about behaviors and preferences; may measure personality traits more than emotional abilities
* short assessments designed specifically to assess each of the four facets of emotional intelligence

Physical ability

importance varies according to the nature of the job

* strength
* stamina
* flexibility and coordination
* psychomotor
* sensory

Strength

the degree to which the body is capable of exerting force

Stamina

ability of lungs and circulatory system to work efficiently for prolonged period

Flexibility and coordination

ability to stretch, bend, twist, or reach

Psychomotor

capacity to manipulate or control objects

Sensory

capabilities associated with vision or hearing

How important is ability

* general cognitive ability is a strong predictor of job performance
* smarter employees fulfill requirements of their job descriptions more effectively than do less smart employees across all jobs
* cognitive ability is more strongly correlated with task performance than with citizenship behavior
* no correlation if found between cognitive ability and organizational commitment

Organizational culture

the shared social knowledge within an organization regarding the rules, norms, and values that shape the attitudes and behaviors of its employees

* learned from other employees
* tells everyone what rules, norms, and values are in the organization
* creates a system of control over employees

Three major components to any organization’s culture

* observable artifacts
* espoused values
* basic underlying assumptions

Observable artifacts

the manifestations of an organization’s culture that employees can easily see or talk about

* symbols
* physical structures
* language
* stories
* rituals
* ceremonies

Espoused values

the beliefs, philosophies, and norms that a company explicitly states

* may not always correspond with enacted values
* not all companies are open in regards to their values

Basic underlying assumptions

the taken-for-granted beliefs and philosophies that are so ingrained that employees simply act on them rather than questioning the validity of their behavior in a given situation

* represent the deepest and least observable part of a culture
* the most long-lasting and difficult aspect of organizational culture to change

Solidarity

the degree to which group members think and act alike