GBU 205: MANAGEMENT &

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR
WEEK 3
UNDERSTANDING AND MANAGING
INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOURS IN THE
ORGANIZATION
By Grace Abban - Ampiah

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this session students will be
able to:
Gain understanding and identify reasons

for your own and other peoples behaviours at

the work place.
Determine

ways
to improve individuals
behaviour for organizational effectiveness.

Lesson Structure
The individuals Contributions to the Organization
Determinants/Factors that influence individual

behaviour
Personality

Meaning of Personality
Importance of studying Personality
Factors that determine individual
personality
Measurement of Personality
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
The five big Personality Model

Lesson Structure Continued

Difficulties in studying personality

Attitudes
Meaning of Attitudes
Significance of studying individuals
measurement of attitudes
Attitude formation
Factors that influence attitude formation

Who are the most valuable

assets of the organisation?
.

Who are the most valuable

assets of an organization?
People are the organization's most

valuable assets but they are the most

complex elements that organization can
manage

Exercises
In what ways does individuals contributes

to the organization.
Why is it important to understand and
manage individuals in the organization.

Individuals Contributions to
Organization
Individuals contributes to the organization in

relation to low absenteeism, low turnover, and

good time keeping.
They contributes loyalty to the organization

despite the challenges. E.g. Commitment to

companies is vital especially in the faces of
current unstable business environment

Individuals Contributions to
Organization
Individuals contribute their skills, efforts,

ideas, time and energy to ensure

Organizational efficiency.
Individuals represent the image and values

of the organization. E.g. The image of the

organization is important to stakeholders.
E.g. consumers, suppliers, and the general
public. Companies like Unilever and Nestle
companies have invested into their brand
and corporate image.

What is Personality?
The unique characteristics or qualities

that distinguishes a person from the others.

This refers to the unique and relatively

stable pattern of behaviour, thoughts and

emotions shown by individual.
A combination of features or qualities

that form an individuals distinctive

characteristics.

Why is Personality
Characteristics so Important on
the Job
It is imperative to know the personality
characteristics on the job because:
Understanding Peoples personality helps to

acknowledge what to expect of them and

relate to them better at the work place.
Assists in matching personality perfectly

to individual tasks. E.g. Extrovert matched

to customer service roles.

Why is Personality
Characteristics Important on
the Job?
It helps individuals to gain valuable insights

into their own behaviour and enable them

to constantly improve/perform better on
the job.
Knowing the basic principles of how

individuals behave at the work place helps

to effectively provide training, manage, and
discipline employees.

Determinants /Factors that influence

Individual Behaviour in the
Organization
Skills and Abilities: E.g. If people lack
the requisite skills and abilities needed
to accomplish their task as a result of
training.
Personality: The unique characteristics

or qualities that differentiate a person

from others.
Learning Styles: Every individual has

a way that they learn at the work place.

Determinants /Factors that influence

Individual Behaviour in the
Organization
Motivation: refers to internal factors

(intrinsic) and external factors (extrinsic)

that stimulate people to perform.
E.g. Internal factors: playing games during
leisure time because you want to have fun.
E.g. External factors: E.g. You are motivated
to achieve a specific target because you will be
rewarded. These rewards may be in the form of
incentives, bonus, recognition e.tc.

Determinants /Factors that influence

Individual Work Behaviour in the
Organization
Perception (Belief): refers to the process of using

our senses (sound, sight, touch, smell and taste)

to give meaning to our surroundings. E.g.
perceiving the work is difficult.
Attitudes: is the way we feel or act about

something. E.g. A person leaving work early or

taking long break (negative attitude).
Morale: refers to the total satisfaction people

derived from a job, workgroup, organization,

working condition, superior. E.g. Are people
happy to perform?.

Identify the unique characteristics of

these individuals

Determinants of Personality
What determines individuals
behaviour

Personality
Personality

Heredity
(Nature)
(Genetic
factors)

Environment
al
Factors(socia
l and
cultural)

Situational
Factors (life
experience)

Determinants of
Personality

In reality, a persons personality is

developed by three main factors namely:

Genetic
inheritance acquired from birth. They
are physical attributes or family
traits that impacts on individuals
personality.

Heredity (Nature) -

Heredity
There are evidence that our genetic inheritance
plays a role in developing our personality.
E.g. Our physical traits/features determined by
genetics factors may influence the way others
treats us and might have impact on how we
view ourselves.
Physical Attributes : E.g. hair type, eye Color,
Skin color.
Aptitude: E.g. A natural talent for music would be
considered as an Aptitude.

Determinants of
Personality
Environmental Factors:

Social interacting with people can affect

ones behaviour.
E.g interaction with families, friends, and
colleagues.
Cultural Factors The culture (values,

beliefs, norms) in which one finds him/herself

tend to influence ones behaviour.
Situational Factors:
Life experiences such as bereavement tend
to affect individuals personality.

Tools for measuring

Individuals Personality in the
Personality
measurement is important on
organization
job
especially during recruitment and selection,
promotions in organization:

Observation E.g helps to determine if one

is an introvert (quiet) and extrovert (sociable).

Interviews face-to-face interactions

between employees and managers

Tools for measuring

Individuals Personality in the
organization
Personality test
Myers Briggs Personality Type Indicator
The big five model Classification
Aptitude test assess people abilities to

learn, absorb and apply new information,

problem-solving skills, attention to details.
E.g. Aptitude test on verbal, numerical and
abstract reasoning. E.g. used by most
organizations world wide.

Myers-Briggs Personality Type

Indicator (MBTI) Assessment
This is a psychometric questionnaire designed to
measure psychological preferences in how people
perceive the world and make decisions.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Classification (MBTI)
EXTRAVERSION
INTROVERSION

Where do you prefer to focus

your attention and get your
energy?

E I (Dichotomy)
SENSING INTUITION

How do you prefer to take in

information?

S I (Dichotomy)
THINKING FEELING

How do you make decision

T F (Dichotomy)
JUDGING PERCEIVING
J- P (Dichotomy)

How do you deal with the outer

world?

Description of Classification
Myers-Briggs Indicator Type
Extraversion (E):

Introversion (I):

Outgoing, energetic,
communicative, warm

Reserved, thoughtful,
unassuming, and calm

Sensing (S):

Intuitive (N):

Not interested in theories,

Practical, traditional, observant
and factual.

Interested in abstracts or theories,

imaginative, forward thinking, and
innovative.

Thinking (T):

Feeling (F):

Analytical, objective. Make

decisions based on cause and
effect.

Kind, attentive, approachable,

Subjective.

Judging (J):

Perceiving (P):

Organized, determined, dedicated

and decisive

Flexible, easy-going, and

approachable.

Occupation Trend based on MBTI

ISTJ
Management
Administratio
n
Law
enforcement
Accounting

ISFJ
Education
Healthcare
Religious
settings

INFJ
Religion
Counseling
Teaching
Arts

ISFP

INFP

Health care
Business
Law
enforcement

Counseling
Writing
Arts

INTJ
Scientificor
technical
fields
Computers
Law

ISTP

Skilled trades
Technical fields
Agriculture
Law
Enforcement
Military

INTP
Scientific or
technical fields

Occupation Trend based on MBTI

ESTP

ESFP

ENFP

ENTP

Marketing
Skilledtrades
Business
Law
enforcement
Applied
technology

Healthcare
Teaching
Coaching
Childcare
worker
Skilledtrades

Counseling
Teaching
Religion
Arts

Science
Management
Technology
Arts

ESTJ

ESFJ

Management
Administration
Law
enforcement

Education
Health care
Religion

ENFJ

Religion
Arts
Teaching

ENTJ
Management
Leadership

Exercise
Spend sometime to answer the MBTI

questions to determine your MBTI type.

(
www.16personalities.com/free-personality-t
est
)

The Big Five Model

Classification
The Big Five Model is categorized into five
personality factors:
Extroversion
Conscientiousness
Agreeableness
Emotional Stability
Open to Experience

Five Big Personality Traits

Below shows the five big dimensions of personality traits that

account for the differences in the way people behave at work

Element of the Big Five
Personality Traits

Description

Extraversion

Extroversion Sociable,
assertive (Confident) & outgoing
Introversion Quiet, reserved
and Shy.

Conscientiousness

High in Conscientiousness
Organized Hardworking,
dependable, and persevering
Low in Conscientiousness
Disorganized, lazy, & Unreliable

Five Big Personality Traits

Below shows the five big dimensions of personality traits

that account for the differences in the way people behave at

work

Element of the Big

Description
Five Personality Traits
Agreeableness

Highly Agreeable
cooperative and friendly
Highly disagreeable
not cooperative,
unfriendly

Emotional Stability

Emotionally Stable
secure, calm & happy
Emotionally Unstable
insecure, anxious, &
depressed.

Five Big Personality Traits

Below shows the five big dimensions of personality traits

that account for the differences in the way people behave at

work

Element of the Big Five

Personality Traits

Description

Openness to experience

Open to experience
creative & curious, artistic,
flexible
Closed to experience
unimaginative, dull,
inflexible, literal minded.

Group Exercise
What are the difficulties in associates with

the tools used in studying peoples

personality on the job?

Difficulties in Studying
Personality
The following are difficulties associated with
studying Personality:
Personality test are associated to faked
responses.
Assessments may infringe on individual

privacy (Data Protection Act Implications)

.

Other personality attributes that

influence Individual Behaviour
Major personality attributes that influence
employees behaviour at the work place are:
Locus of control
Internal Locus of Control
External locus of Control
Type A Personality
Type B Personality

Locus of Control
The degree to which people believe that people are in
control of their own destiny (fate).
Internal Locus of Control:
They are individuals who believe that they are in
control of whatever happens to them based on their
skills and ability.
External Locus of Control:
These are individuals who believe that what
happens to them is controlled by external forces.
e.g. luck, chance, someone 'efforts e.t.c

Effects of Locus of Control on

performance
Situation

Performance

A work that requires very

complex information and
independence

Internals will perform better

than Externals

Compliance and Conformity

to Health and safety rules
and procedures

Externals are likely to perform

better.

Difference between Type A and

Type B Personality
Type A

Type B

Severe sense of urgency

always moving about and
hardly relax

They are people that are

relaxed by nature Has not
time of urgency

They over achievers

They are always involved in
unrelated challenging work
and are able to perform well

They are achievers and

accomplish their work
effectively.

They are very competitive,

They are very calm, and not
impatient, respond quickly
very loud
in many contexts e.g. during
conversations.
Dislike Leisure Time

Like Leisure, can relax and

have not guilt

Advantages of Type A Over Type

B Behaviour Pattern
Type A

Type B

They perform better at

various task level
(Multitasked)

Concentrates on one
task at a time.

Faster on many tasks

even when there is no
pressure or deadline
involved.

Work at their own pace

when there are no
deadlines and pressure
to accomplish task.

Work very well even in

the presence of
distractions.

Type A are able to

accomplish more tasks
in the presence of
distractions.

Why measure personality on

the Job
It helps to determine how individuals work

with people, approach their task,

communicate, and deal with stress.
Helps to evaluate individuals response to

change under different circumstances.

Advantages of Type B Over Type

A Behaviour Pattern
Type A

Type B

They always perform

poorly on tasks that
entails patience or
careful because they
are always in a hurry.

Type B perform better

on tasks that requires
judgment, & accuracy
because they are
always relax.

They are easily prone to They hardly get

stress due to the
stressed out since
amount of tasks they
they always relaxed in
get involved in
accomplishing their
tasks.

Personality Attributes that

affects Organization
Behavior
Self-efficacy (Can-do) :
ones believe in his/her own capacity
to perform a task.
Self-esteem
The degree to which a person hold positive or
negative views about themselves.

Personality Attributes that

affects Organization
Behavior
Self-monitoring:
The is a personality trait that makes
a person pay attention to a social
situation so that he/she can change
behaviors' to fit that situation.

What are Attitudes?

Attitudes are mental views or

dispositions based on beliefs and feelings

which a person brings to any situation.
OR
Attitudes are feelings towards people or

things

What are attitudes?

How do you measure peoples

attitudes at work?
It is very challenging to measure attitudes
since it cannot be seen, they can only be
inferred (concluded).
The following methods can be used to
assess individuals attitudes at work:
Surveys: E.g.. In the field of marketing,

surveys are constantly used to determine

what people feel about a particular product
Direct Observation

Exercise
Divide yourselves into groups and reflect on

the factors that influence attitude

formation and how you can change
attitudes of people in the organization.

Factors that influence

attitude Formation
Attitudes are learned from infancy. Attitudes
Are derived from personal reactions to
Information and events.
Social Groups to which we belong

especially during infancy, workgroups and

friendship groups.
Personal Life experience bereavement,

experiences on the job.

Factors that influence

attitude Formation
Media as a means of communication has

influence on individuals attitudes. E.g.

television and radios.
Educational institution and Religious

institution: These institutions help shape

our moral standards.
Culture: Norms and values of society

influence the way people behave. E.g.

Japanese belief in team support achievement
whilst Americans have the can do attitude .

Instances where Managers may

desire Attitude Change
Attitude toward introduction and

implementation of new management practices.

Attitude towards work diversity.
Attitude towards ensuring Health and Safety

Regulations. E.g. Use Of Safety Equipments

like industrial safety helmet to reduce head
injuries
Attitudes toward future changes In the

organization such as introduction of new

technology.

How do managers change

Attitude at work?
Managers may change peoples attitude
by:
High degree of Individual involvement in

decision-making.
Participation (contribution in projects)
Rewards
punishments
Effective communication

Conclusion
Managing Individual personality

and attitudes are vital to

achieving organizational effective.

Conclusion

Questions