Individual Behavior,

Personality, and
Values

Chapter Two

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
MARS Model of Individual Behavior and Performance

Recently Organizational Behavior is investigating the

predictors of individual behavior and performance
One frequently mentioned formula is:
Performance = ability X Motivation (Skill and Will)
This formula identifies two characteristics within the
person that directly influence behavior and performance
Another formula is:
Performance = Person X Situation
Person includes individual characteristics and situation
represent external influences on the individual’s
behavior
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MARS Model of Individual Behavior and Performance

The following exhibit represents the four factors that

directly influence individual behavior and performance:
Situational
factors
Values
Motivation
Personality
Perceptions Individual
Ability behavior and
Emotions results
Attitudes Role
Stress perceptions

2-3
 Employee Motivation

Internal forces that affect a person’s direction,

intensity and persistence of behavior (effort)
 Direction refers to the path along which people engage
their effort (goal direction)
 Intensity is the amount of effort allocated to the goal
 Persistence , continuing the effort for a certain amount
of time. People put effort until they reach their goal or
give up beforehand
S
M
A BAR

R
2-4
 Employee Ability
Natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to
successfully complete a task
Aptitudes (physical and mental) are the natural talents
that help employees learn specific tasks more quickly and
perform them better
Learned capabilities are skills and knowledge that you
have actually acquired. Acquiring competencies depend on
one’s aptitudes
Competencies  skills, knowledge, aptitudes and personal
characteristics that lead to superior performance
Person  job matching M
S

 Selecting, developing, redesigning

A BAR

R
2-5
 Employee Role Perceptions

Employees also require clear role perceptions to

perform their job well
Employees have clear role perception in three
ways:
 understanding what tasks to perform
 understanding relative importance (priority) of tasks
 understanding preferred behaviors to accomplish tasks
when there are more than one method
S
M

A BAR

R
2-6
 Situational Factors

Environmental conditions beyond the individual’s

short-term control that constrain or facilitate
behavior. These include:
 customers
 competitors
 regulators
 suppliers
Other factors are controllable. These are:
 time
S
 people M
 budget
A BAR
 work facilities
R
2-7
 Defining Personality

Relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, emotions,

and behaviors that characterize a person, along
with the psychological processes behind those
characteristics
It is the mix of characteristics that make us similar
to or different from other people
Behavior patterns that reflect underlying stable
traits (talkative, risk taking, social, introvert,
cheerful, ..etc)
However, people do not act the same way in all
situations. Rather they adjust to suit the situation
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 Nature vs. Nurture of Personality

What determines an individual’s personality?

Heredity explains about 50 percent of behavioral
tendencies and 30 percent of temperament preferences
See Minnesota studies of twins, which include those
separated at birth exhibited very similar behavior
patterns
Nurture also counts which includes socialization, life
experiences, learning, and interaction with environment

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Big Five Personality Dimensions (CANOE)

Conscientiousness Careful, dependable, disciplined

Agreeableness Courteous, caring, cooperative

Neuroticism Anxious, hostile, depressive

Openness to Experience Sensitive, curious, creative

Extroversion Outgoing, talkative, sociable

2-10
 Personality & Performance

Conscientiousness and emotional stability

 Motivational components of personality (the will to achieve)
 People with low conscientiousness tend to be careless,
disorganized, and irresponsible
Extroversion
 Related to social interaction and persuasion
 The opposite is introversion (quite, shy, and cautious)
 Linked to sales and mgt performance
Agreeableness
 Better performance in jobs requiring cooperation and
helpfulness
Openness to experience
 Linked to higher creativity and adaptability to change
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 Self-concept: the “I”
in Organizational
Behavior

Individual Behavior,
Personality, and Values

Yasmeen Youssef
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Fairmont’s Success Begins with Self-Concept

Yasmeen Youssef (shown in photo)

received a huge boost in her self-
esteem and self-concept when she
joined Fairmont Hotels & Resorts
soon moving from Egypt to Canada.
“I was worried no one would take a
chance on me, would believe in
me,” Youssef recalls. “Everything
changed when I started working at
Fairmont.”

Yasmeen Youssef
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

2-13
 Self-Concept Defined

People develop, care, and act in ways that maintain

and enhance their self-concept
Self-concept is an individual’s self-beliefs and self-
evaluations
 It is the “Who am I?” and “How do I feel about myself?” that
people ask themselves and that guide their decisions and
actions
 People think of themselves in several ways in various
situations. For example you might think of your self as a
creative person, risk taker, outgoing, competent…etc
People develop a clearer self-concept as they get older
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 Three “Selves” of Self-Concept

Self-enhancement
 Promoting and protecting our positive self-view
(employees like to feel valued as contributors to the
company’s success)

Self-verification
 Affirming our existing self-concept (good and bad
elements)

Self-evaluation
 Evaluating ourselves through self-esteem, self-efficacy,
and locus of control

2-15
 Self-Concept: Self-Enhancement

An internal human drive to promote and protect a

positive self-view of being competent, attractive,
lucky, ethical, valued …etc

This self assessment is observed in many ways:

people tend to: (1) rate themselves above average,
(2) selectively recall positive feedback while forgetting
negative feedback, (3) attribute their success to
personal motivation or ability while blaming the
situation of their mistakes

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 Self-Concept: Self-Verification

Motivation to verify and maintain our existing self-

concept
People prefer feedback that is consistent with their
self-concept
Effects of self-verification
We ignore or reject information inconsistent with self-
concept
We interact more with those who affirm/reflect self-
concept

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 Self-Concept: Self-Evaluation

Self-evaluation defined mainly by self-esteem, self-efficacy,

and locus of control
Self-esteem
 Represents a global self-evaluation; that is the extent to which
people like, respect, and are satisfied with themselves (good student,
good father, good worker)
 People with high self-esteem are less influenced by others, more
persistent, thinking more logically
Self-efficacy
 Belief in one’s ability, motivation, role perceptions, and situation to
complete a task successfully (i.e. MARS analysis)
 People with high believe of self-efficacy possess the energy,
resources, understanding, and competencies to perform the task
Locus of control
 General belief about the amount of personal control over life events
 External vs. internal locus of control
2-18
 Values in the
Workplace

Individual Behavior,
Personality, and Values

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
 Values in the Workplace

Values are stable, evaluative beliefs that guide our

preferences for outcomes or courses of action
Define right or wrong, good or bad practices
People arrange values into a hierarchy of preferences
called value system
Espoused vs. enacted values:
 Espoused -- the values we say and often think we use.
Mangers might say they value creativity and politeness,
whether or not they really do value these things in practice
 Enacted -- values we actually rely on to guide our decisions
and actions. They are apparent by watching people in action
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 Types of Values

Schwartz’s Values Model

Openness to Self-
change transcendence

Self-
enhancement Conservation

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 Schwartz’s Values Model

Openness to change -- extent to which a person is motivated

to pursue innovative ways. It includes the value of self-direction
(independent thought and action) and stimulation (excitement
and challenge)
Conservation -- the extent to which a person is motivated to
preserve the status quo. It includes the value of conformity
(adherence to social norms and expectations) and security
(safety and stability)
Self-enhancement -- how much a person is motivated by self-
interest. Includes the values of achievement (pursuit of personal
success) and power (dominance over others)
Self-transcendence -- the motivation to promote the welfare
of others and nature. It includes the values of benevolence
(concern of others in one’s life) and universalism (concern for
the welfare of all people and nature
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 Values Congruence

Values congruence is the extent to which two or

more entities have similar value systems
Problems with high value incongruence
 Incompatible decisions
 Lower satisfaction and commitment
 Increased stress and turnover

Benefits of (some) value incongruence

 Diverse values mean different views which lead to better
decision making

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Values Across Culture: Individualism

High Individualism
U.S.
The degree to which people
Italy value independence and
personal uniqueness
India
Highly individualist people
Denmark value personal freedom,
self-sufficiency, control over
their own life, and
appreciation of the unique
Taiwan qualities that distinguish
them from others

Low Individualism
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Values Across Culture: Collectivism

High Collectivism
The degree to which people
Italy value their duty to groups to
Taiwan
which they belong and to
group harmony
India Highly collectivist people
define themselves by their
Denmark
group membership and
value harmonious
U.S. relationships with those
groups
Low Collectivism
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Values Across Culture: Power Distance

High Power Distance

Malaysia
The degree that people
Venezuela accept an unequal distribution
of power in a society
People with high power
Japan distance accept and value
unequal power, obedience to
U.S. authority, and are comfortable
receiving commands from
Denmark their superiors without debate

Low Power Distance

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Values Across Culture: Uncertainty Avoidance

High U. A.
Greece The degree that people
Japan tolerate ambiguity (low
uncertainty avoidance) or feel
Italy threatened by ambiguity and
uncertainty (high uncertainty
avoidance)
U.S.
People with high uncertainty
avoidance value structured
Singapore situations where rules of
conduct and decision making
are clearly documented
Low U. A.
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Values Across Culture: Achievement-Nurturing

Achievement
Japan The degree to which
people value assertiveness,
competitiveness, and
China materialism (achievement)
U.S.
versus relationships and
well-being of others
France (nurturing)
Chile
People with high
achievement orientation
Sweden value assertiveness,
competitiveness, and
Nurturing materialism
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 Ethical Values and Behavior

Three Ethical Principles

Greatest good for the greatest number
of people. Choosing the options
Utilitarianism providing the highest degree of
satisfaction to those affected
Fundamental entitlements in society.
Individual Examples are freedom of movement,
Rights physical security, fair trial, and freedom
of speech
People who are similar should receive
Distributive similar benefits and burdens; those who
Justice are dissimilar should receive different
benefits and burdens
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 Influences on Ethical Conduct

Moral intensity
 The degree to which an issue demands the application of
ethical principles. Decisions with high moral intensity are
more important, so the decision makers need to more
carefully apply ethical principles to resolve them
Ethical sensitivity
 People’s ability to recognize the presence and determine
the relative importance of an ethical issue
Situational influences
 The competitive pressures and other conditions that
affect ethical behavior. Employees might be motivated
by top management to lie to customers, breach
regulations, or act unethically
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Supporting Ethics at Coors

Long before it was a priority

at other firms, Coors Brewing
Company developed training
programs and reward
systems that explicitly
strengthen ethical conduct.

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Supporting Ethical Behavior

Ethical code of conduct

Ethics training
Ethics officers
Ethical leadership and culture
Refer to your textbook, page 40-41

2-32
 Individual Behavior,
Personality, and
Values

Chapter Two

McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.