Organizational behavior lecture notes, unit 4 OB

Lecture notes, Unit 4 OB

Explain

Explain

Discuss, ask students to explain theirs

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Opposites. Quick class exercise by group, which are you?

Opposites. Quick class exercise by group, which are you?

The Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator is a 100-question personality test that asks people to
select how they usually feel or act in particular situations. On the basis of their answers,
they are classified as extroverted or introverted (E or I), sensing or intuitive (S or N),
thinking or feeling (T or F), and perceiving or judging (P or J). Since results provide
insights into what individuals enjoy doing, using this test in employee selection can
minimize personality-job conflicts.

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The five-factor model of personality—the Big Five—offers a comprehensive, unifying
framework for identifying personality dimensions.
The dimension of extraversion captures one’s comfort level with relationships. Extroverts
tend to maintain a large number of relationships. Introverts tend to be reserved and have
fewer relationships.
The dimension of agreeableness refers to a person’s propensity to defer to others. People

high in this dimension value harmony more than having their own way. People low in this
dimension focus on their own needs more than on the needs of others.
The dimension of conscientiousness refers to the number of goals on which a person
focuses. Those high in this dimension pursue fewer goals and tend to be responsible,
persistent, and achievement-oriented. Those low in this dimension tend to be more easily
distracted, less focused, and more hedonistic.
Emotional stability refers a person’s ability to withstand stress. People high on this
dimension tend to be calm, enthusiastic, and secure. Those low in this dimension tend to
be anxious, nervous, and insecure.
Openness to experience refers to one’s range of interests. Those high in this dimension
are fascinated by imaginative, creative, and intellectual activities. Those low in this
dimension tend to be more conventional and prefer the familiar.

Discuss risk taking and Type A personality

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Discuss VN national culture

Holland’s personality job-fit model is based on the notion of fit between an individual’s
personality and his or her occupational environment. Holland identified six personality
types: realistic, investigative, social, conventional, enterprising, and artistic. Each of the
six personality types has a congruent occupational environment, as shown in the table
above.

Holland developed a Vocational Preference Inventory questionnaire that contains 160
occupational titles. Respondents indicate which of those occupations they like or dislike,
and their answers are used to form personality profiles. The figure above shows that the
closer two fields or orientations are in the hexagon, the more compatible they are.

Adjacent categories are quite similar, whereas those diagonally opposed are highly
dissimilar.

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The bottom line, according to Holland, is that satisfaction is highest and turnover is
lowest when personality and occupation are in agreement. For instance, a realistic person
in a realistic job is in a more congruent situation than a realistic person in an investigative
job. A realistic person in a social job is the most incongruent situation possible.

Before we proceed with our analysis, we need to clarify three terms that are closely
related. Affect is a generic term that covers a broad range of feelings that people can
experience. This term encompasses both emotions and moods. Emotions are intense
feelings directed at someone or something. Moods are feelings that tend to be less intense
than emotions and that lack a contextual stimulus.

Every employee expends physical and mental labor in the workplace. Most jobs also
require emotional labor which occurs when an employee expresses organizationally
desired emotions during interpersonal transactions. Emotions can be separated into those
that are felt versus those that are displayed. Felt emotions are an individual’s actual
emotions. In contrast, displayed emotions are those that are organizationally required and
considered appropriate in a given job. They are not innate; rather, they are learned.

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Research has identified six universal emotions: anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust,
and surprise. These emotions can be conceptualized as existing along a continuum. The
closer any two emotions are on this continuum, the more people are likely to confuse

them. For example, happiness and surprise are often mistaken, but happiness and disgust
are rarely confused.
People give different responses to identical emotion-provoking stimuli. In some cases,
this can be attributed to the individual’s personality. At other times, it is a result of job
requirements.
Cultural norms in the United States dictate that employees working in service
organizations should smile and act friendly when interacting with customers. In some
cultures, smiling is seen as a sign of inexperience or flirtatiousness. So cultural factors
will influence what is or is not emotionally appropriate. What is acceptable in one culture
may seem unusual or dysfunctional in another. And cultures influence how emotions are
interpreted. As a result, there is high agreement on what emotions mean within cultures
but not between them.

Who is more emotional, men or women?
What type of occupation do you think emotionless people fit into?

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Japan is a good example

The first way in which emotions affect OB pertains to ability and selection. People who
are in touch with their own emotions and can read the emotions of others may be more
effective in their jobs. That, in essence, is the theme underlying recent research on
emotional intelligence: an assortment of non-cognitive skills, capabilities, and
competencies that influence a person’s ability to cope with environmental demands and
pressures.
Leadership is a fundamental quality sought by organizations. Effective leaders rely on the
expression of feelings to help convey their messages. They link emotions to an appealing
vision in order to increase the chances of managers and employees accepting change.

Traditional approaches to the study of decision making in organizations have emphasized
rationality. Yet it is naïve to assume that decisions are not influenced by one’s feelings.
Few issues are more intertwined with emotions than the topic of interpersonal conflict. If
a manager wants to resolve conflicts, he or she must identify the emotional elements in
the conflict and get the parties to work through their emotions.
The dominant approaches to the study of motivation propose that individuals are
motivated to the extent that their behavior is expected to lead to desired outcomes and
that they essentially trade effort for pay, security, and promotions. The perceptions and
calculations of people, however, are filled with emotional content that influences how
much effort they exert.
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Negative emotions can lead to deviant behavior in the workplace. Employee deviance
involves actions that violate established norms and threaten the organization, its
members, or both.

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