Individual Behavior,
Values, and
Personality
Chapter 2
Learning Objectives
MARS model of individual behavior
Five types of behaviors in organizations
Big Five personality dimensions (OCEAN)
Values in the workplace
Values across cultures (Hofstedes culture
dimensions)
Ethical values
MARS Model of Individual
Behavior
Role
Perceptions
Personality
Values
Motivation
Individual
Behavior
and Results
Perceptions
Emotions
Attitudes
Stress
Ability
Situational
Factors
Motivation
Internal forces that affect a persons
voluntary choice of behavior
Direction
Intensity
Persistence
M
R
B&R
Ability
Natural and learned aptitudes, skills, knowledge,
and other personal characteristics required for task
completion and superior performance
Person-job matching
Select qualified people
Training
Redesign the job
R
B&R
Role Perceptions
What tasks to perform
Relative importance of tasks
Preferred behaviors to accomplish tasks
M
R
B&R
Situational Factors
Environmental conditions beyond the individuals
short-term control that constrain or facilitate
behavior
Time
People
Budget
Work facilities
Consumer preferences
R
B&R
MARS Model of Individual
Behavior
Role
Perceptions
Personality
Values
Motivation
Individual
Behavior
and Results
Perceptions
Emotions
Attitudes
Stress
Ability
Situational
Factors
Personality
Relatively stable pattern of thoughts, emotions,
and behaviors that characterize a person, along
with the psychological processes behind those
characteristics
Heredity
Genes
Situation
Situation
Constraints
Environment
Learned
Big Five personality
dimensions - OCEAN
Openness to Experience
Sensitive, flexible
Conscientiousness
Careful, dependable
Extroversion
Outgoing, talkative
Agreeableness
Courteous, caring
Neuroticism
Anxious, hostile
OCEAN and Performance
Conscientiousness
Strongest personality predictors of performance
Extroversion
Social interaction and persuasion
Sales and management performance
Agreeableness
Cooperation and helpfulness
Teams, customer relations, conflict-handling
situations
Openness to experience
Higher creativity and adaptability to change
Big Five Personality Traits
Openness to experience
It captures ones range of interests and fascination with novelty. It
characterizes someone who is imaginative, sensitive, and curious.
Openness to experience predicts performance in training.
Conscientiousness
It captures ones reliability. It describes someone who is
responsible, dependable, persistent, and organized.
Conscientiousness predicts performance in almost all
occupations/jobs. It predicts performance in training, level of job
knowledge, and organizational citizenship behaviors.
Extroversion
It captures ones comfort level with relationships. It describes
someone who is sociable, gregarious, and assertive.
Extroverts tend to perform better in managerial and sales
positions.
Big Five Personality Traits
Agreeableness
It refers to an individuals propensity to defer to others. Highly
agreeable persons are cooperative, warm, and trusting.
Neuroticism (opposite to Emotional stability)
It taps a persons ability to withstand stress. A emotionally
stable person tends to be calm, self-confident, and secure.
Research did not suggest a significant relationship between
emotional stability and performance.
MARS model of individual
behavior
Role
Perceptions
Personality
Values
Motivation
Individual
Behavior
and Results
Perceptions
Emotions
Attitudes
Stress
Ability
Situational
Factors
Values in the Workplace
Stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our preferences
Define right or wrong, good or bad
Value system: hierarchy of values
Values are important because:
Ethical values (define good and bad)
Guide employee behavior (in ambiguous situations)
Globalization raises awareness of values differences
An example of value system
Independence
Leisure
Status
Justice
Trust
Love
Friendship
Peace
Honesty
Health
Family
Happiness
Knowledge
Wealth
Responsibility
Freedom
Excitement
Customs
Equality
Espoused vs. Enacted
Values
Espoused: the values we say we use and often
think we use
Enacted: the values we actually rely on to guide
our decisions and actions
Values Congruence
Compatibility of value systems
Person-organization
Espouse-enacted values congruence
Organization-society values congruence
Problems of incongruence
Incompatible decisions
Lower satisfaction and commitment
Increased stress and turnover
Benefits of (some) incongruence
Better decision making (diverse values)
Enhanced problem definition
Value across Cultures
(Hofstedes Culture
Dimensions)
Individualism and collectivism
Power distance
Uncertainty avoidance
Achievement-nurturing orientation
Video clip
Mr. Baseball (1992)
Jack, a fading American baseball player, is
traded to a Japanese team
In this scene, he is having lunch with a
Japanese family
Look for the cultural errors Jack makes in
this brief scene
Power Distance
The degree to which people accept an
unequal distribution of power in society
High
Accept and value
unequal power
Low
Expect relatively
equal power sharing
Value obedience to
authority,
comfortable
receiving
commands from
superiors
Value consultation,
view hierarchical
relationship as
interdependent
Uncertainty Avoidance
The degree that people tolerate ambiguity or feel
threatened by ambiguity and uncertainty
High
Low
Value structured
situations, clearly
documented conduct
Prefer unstructured
situations
Prefer direct
communications
Prefer indirect
communications
Achievement versus
Nurturing
Competitive versus cooperative view of
relations with other people
Achievement
Value
assertiveness,
competitiveness,
and materialism
Nurturing
Value human
interactions,
relationships and wellbeing of others
Quantity (money
Quality of life (welfare)
and material goods)
Individualism versus
Collectivism
The degree to which people prefer to act as
individuals versus as members of groups
Individualism
Personal freedom, selfsufficiency, control,
private space
Collectivism
Group membership,
group interest
Independence, personal Duty to groups, group
uniqueness
harmony
Three Ethical Principles
Utilitarianism
Individual
Rights
Distributive
Justice
Greatest good for the greatest
number of people
Fundamental entitlements
in society
People who are similar should
receive similar benefits
Supporting Ethical Behavior
Ethical code of conduct
Establishes standards of behavior
Ethics training
Awareness and clarification of ethics code
Practice resolving ethical dilemmas
Ethics hotline or officers
Educate and counsel; report wrongdoing
Leadership and culture
Demonstrate integrity and role model ethical conduct
Preparation of Next Class
Read Chapter 3
Read West Indian Yacht Club Case
