Chapter 2: Understanding Individual Differences: Attitudes

Chapter 2: UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Managing behavior of self and other is integral to organizational performance. The

understanding of human behavior in an organizational context draws extensively from a
specialized field of study called organizational behavior (OB). OB is concerned specifically with
actions of people at work.

Visible Aspects of an Organization (FORMAL ELEMENTS)
- Include strategies, mission statement, objectives, policies and procedures,
organizational structure, technologies used, formal authority, and the chain of
command. These are often documented and much is available in the public domain
through the internet or media.
Hidden Aspects within an Organization (INFORMAL ELEMENTS)
- Include characteristics like attitudes and personalities of individuals within an
organization. These can only be deciphered through keen observation and critical
analysis.

ATTITUDES
- Evaluative statements about objects, people, events and concepts. An
understanding of a persons attitude can offer much insight about a persons
behavior and conduct in a workplace, and enables managers to understand why
people behave in a certain manner.

3 key components:

Cognitive attitudes emanating from this consideration is absolutely invisible as
they are in the mind of the manager or employee.
Affective emotional or feeling segment of an attitude. This aspect of attitude is
influenced by passion and love or dislike or hatred often emanating from the
heart of the manager or employee
Behavioral an intention to behave in a certain way towards someone or
something. This is often demonstrated by action and the words used
accompanied by appropriate facial expression or body gestures
Job satisfaction a managers or the employees general attitude towards
his or her job.
Job involvement the degree to which an employee identifies with his or
her job, actively participates in it and considers his or her job performance
important for self-worth.
Organizational commitment

PERSONALITY
- Traits particularly enduring tendencies to feel, think, and act in certain ways both on
and off the job.
- The dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems
that determine his unique adjustments to his environment, by Psychologist Allport
- Understanding this helps managers understand how people interact with one
another and how they solve problems and deal with different challenges

2 widely accepted personality profiling tools:

THE BIG FIVE Personality framework
Consists of five clusters:
Conscientiousness characterizes people who are caring, dependable and self-
disciplined. They are also careful, scrupulous, and persevering.
Emotional stability depicts the extent to which people are poised, secure, calm
and enthusiastic
Openness to experience a tendency to be original, have broad interests, be
open to a broad range of stimuli, be daring and take risks. This characterizes
people who are sensitive, flexible, creative and intellectual.
Agreeableness includes traits of being courteous, good-tempered, trusting,
cooperative, empathic and caring.
Extroversion refers to the extent to which people are outgoing, talkative,
sociable and assertive.
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR (MBTI)
This is a personality test instrument that measures traits based on the model
constructed by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. It identifies a persons preferences for
perceiving the environment and obtaining or processing information.

Four dimensions:

Extroversion/Introversion refers to the direction in which people focus their
attention and energy.
Extroverts are essentially stimulated by environment, the outer world
of people and things
Introverts are stimulated from within, ones own inner world of
thoughts and reflections
Sensing/Intuiting refers to the way people look at the world and take in
information.
Sensing takes in information largely through the five senses of sight,
sound, touch, taste and smell
Intuiting processes information incorporating the sixth sense or insight

Thinking/Feeling refers to ways in which people make decisions
Thinking the mental process that decides on the basis of logical
analysis.
Feeling the mental process that decides on the basis of evaluating
relative worth

VALUES AT WORK

Values define what is right or wrong, good or bad. They help raise the performance of
an organization.

Two types of personal values:

TERMINAL VALUES are desired states worth striving for. They are personal
conviction about lifelong goals or objectives.
INSTRUMENTAL VALUES are desirable modes of behavior that help a person to
reach the objectives of terminal values

In management, 2 terms that appear in the context of values:
ESPOUSED VALUES are the ones the person wants others to believe he or she
abides by.
ENACTED VALUES are those a person actually relies on to guide his or her
decisions and actions.

DIFFRERENCES IN CULTURAL VALUES AND CULTURAL ORIENTATION

VARIATIONS AMONG CULTURES by GEERT HOFTSTEDE
5 dimensions:

Individualism and collectivism are diametrically opposing values. They define
the degree that people value their group goals.
Power distance refers to the extent that people accept unequal distribution of
power in a society or a social organization.
Uncertainty avoidance refers to the degree to which people tolerate ambiguity
(low uncertainty avoidance) or feel threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty.
Achievement-Nurturing Orientation (also known as masculinity-femininity)
Long- or short-term orientation refers to the framework of time.
COLLECTIVISTIC VALUES
Collectivists include some of the following characteristics:
Stronger attachment to their organization
More likely to subordinate personal goals to group goals and emphasize in-group
solidarity
Have long-term relationship with their organization
Value interpersonal skills and relationships more than job specific knowledge
and skills
Identify more with the group and its common goals
Less motivated by self-interests and personal goals
Place lower priority on individual initiative and achievement

NATIONAL CULTURES

National culture comprises the shared values and beliefs that affect the
perceptions, decisions, and behavior of people from particular country.
Hoftstedes five cultural dimensions are useful in understanding national
cultures.

STEREOTYPING

Stereotypes are generalizations about a group of people whereby we attribute a
defined set of characteristics to this group based on their appearance or our
assumptions. By stereotyping, we assume that a person or a group has certain
characteristics.

EMOTIONS AND MOODS

In order to understand our emotional intelligence, we need to appreciate 2 affective states that
all of us experience: Emotions and Moods.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE
- refers to the ability to perceive, control and evaluate emotions. Peter Salovey and
John D. Mayer define EI as the subset of social intelligence that involves the ability to
monitor ones own and others feelings and emotions, to discriminate among them
and to use this information to guide ones thinking and actions.
- EI embraces 2 aspects of intelligence:
Understanding yourself, your goals, intentions, responses and behavior
Understanding others and their feelings
- 5 domains of EI:
Knowing your emotions
Managing your own emotions
Motivating yourself
Recognizing and understanding other peoples emotions
Managing relationships
- 2 competencies of EI:
Personal Competence: Self-awareness, Self-regulation, Self-motivation.
Social Competence: Social awareness, Social skills.

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Chapter 2: UNDERSTANDING INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES

Managing behavior of self and other is integral to organizational performance. The

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