Individual Differences in Organizations

• Personalities
• Skills
• Abilities
• Perceptions
• Attitudes
• Values
• Ethics

• Culture: national, regional, organizational
• Technology: task environment
• Institution: profession, family, rules, routines, …
• Organization: motivation, leadership, communication style, organizational learning,…

• Individual differences

 
Personality: a relatively stable pattern of characteristics that defines a person’s identity and influences his/her behavior

 
How people relate to others, think, act, feel, judge, and make decisions

 1. Trait Theory: In order to understand individuals, we ought to break down behavior patterns into a set of observable traits

• Extraversion: outgoing, talkative, sociable, assertive
• Aggreeableness: trusting, good natured, cooperative, soft hearted.
• Conscientiousness: dependable, responsible, achievement oriented, persistent

• Emotional stability: relaxed, secure, unworried. EQ?
• Openness to experience: intellectual, imaginative, curious, broad minded

• The authoritarian personality: strict, harsh, critical, inconsistent, low self-esteem emotionally repressed.

• Machiavellianism: the desire to manipulate other people for one’s own gain by using whatever forms of deviousness and deception may be necessary.
• The entrepreneurial personality: strong achievement motivation

    Criticism: situational impact, changeability of personality

2. How Personality Forms
 

Psychodynamic Theory: emphasizes the unconscious determinants of personality: id, ego, superego – people are driven by irrational forces
 

The Behaviorist Approach: people learn a particular response to a particular stimulus in seek of positive consequences and in avoidance of negative negative consequences. B.F. Skiner: people are driven by environment

 
Humanistic Theory: self-concept, self-actualization, and individual growth as the basic drive for behavioral and personality change. Carl Rogers
 

3. Personality Characteristics in Organization
 

• Locus of control: internal vs. external
• Self-esteem: positive feeling about oneself and self-worth. –general.
• Self-efficacy: one’s belief and expectations about one’s ability to fulfil a specific task effectively. –task-specific.
• Self-monitoring: self-image vs. private reality; face-work vs. inner-feeling.

• Positive vs. negative affect: focus on positive aspects of self vs. negative aspects of self.

(1). Information gathering style:

• Sensing: gathering information through the five senses, emphasis on concrete and specific facts (data and details), like rules, procedures. US:70%
• Intuiting: gathering information through the "sixth sense" and focus on possibility rather than facts, like visions, grand plans.

• Thinking: making decision in a logical, objective fashion: analytic, clarity, head, justice, rules. US:50%
• Feeling: making decision in a personal, value-oriented way: subjective, harmony, heart, mercy, circumstance.

• Extraversion: energized by interaction with people: outgoing, publicly expressive, interacting speaks=>think, gregarious. 70% US population
• Introversion: energized by self-reflection and thinking: quiet, reserved, concentrating, think=>speaks, reflective.

• Judging: preferring closure and completion in gathering information and making decisions: structured, time oriented, decisive, organized.
• Perceiving: preferring to explore more information and many alternatives and flexibility.