This document discusses factors that influence individual behavior and performance in organizational settings. It presents several models including: 1) A formula that performance is determined by ability and motivation. Motivation depends on direction, intensity, and persistence of effort. 2) The MARS model which identifies four factors - motivation, ability, role perceptions, and situational factors - as direct influences on behavior and performance. 3) Research on personality traits like the "Big Five" dimensions and how traits like conscientiousness and emotional stability relate to job performance. 4) The importance of values congruence between an individual's values and an organization's values for satisfaction and effective decision-making.

1. Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Individual Behavior,
Personality, and
Values
Chapter Two

2. 2-2
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
MARS Model of Individual Behavior and
Performance

3. 2-3
MARS Model of Individual Behavior and
Performance
IndividualIndividual
behavior andbehavior and
resultsresults
IndividualIndividual
behavior andbehavior and
resultsresults
SituationalSituational
factorsfactors
SituationalSituational
factorsfactors
Values
Personality
Perceptions
Emotions
Attitudes
Stress
Values
Personality
Perceptions
Emotions
Attitudes
Stress
RoleRole
perceptionsperceptions
RoleRole
perceptionsperceptions
MotivationMotivationMotivationMotivation
AbilityAbilityAbilityAbility
The following exhibit represents the four factors that
directly influence individual behavior and performance:

4. 2-4
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
RRRR
BARBARBARBAR
SSSS
MMMM
AAAA

5. 2-5
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
 Selecting, developing, redesigning
RRRR
BARBARBARBAR
SSSS
MMMM
AAAA

6. 2-6
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
RRRR
BARBARBARBAR
SSSS
MMMM
AAAA

7. 2-7
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
 people
 budget
 work facilities
RRRR
BARBARBARBAR
SSSS
MMMM
AAAA

8. 2-8
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

9. 2-9
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

10. 2-10
Big Five Personality Dimensions (CANOE)
Outgoing, talkative, sociable
Sensitive, curious, creative
Careful, dependable, disciplined
Courteous, caring, cooperative
Anxious, hostile, depressive
ConscientiousnessConscientiousnessConscientiousnessConscientiousness
AgreeablenessAgreeablenessAgreeablenessAgreeableness
NeuroticismNeuroticismNeuroticismNeuroticism
Openness to ExperienceOpenness to ExperienceOpenness to ExperienceOpenness to Experience
ExtroversionExtroversionExtroversionExtroversion

11. 2-11
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

12. Copyright © 2009 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Self-concept: the “I”
in Organizational
Behavior
Individual Behavior,
Personality, and Values
Yasmeen Youssef
Fairmont Hotels & Resorts

13. 2-13
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

14. 2-14
Self-Concept Defined
People develop, nurture, 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

15. 2-15
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

16. 2-16
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

17. 2-17
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

18. 2-18
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

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

20. 2-20
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

21. 2-21
Types of Values
Openness to
change
Self-
enhancement
Self-
transcendence
Conservation
Schwartz’s Values Model

22. 2-22
Types of Values
Openness to
change
Self-
enhancement
Self-
transcendence
Conservation
Schwartz’s Values Model

23. 2-23
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

24. 2-24
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

25. 2-25
Values Across Culture: Individualism
The degree to which people
value independence and
personal uniqueness
Highly individualist people
value personal freedom,
self-sufficiency, control over
their own life, and
appreciation of the unique
qualities that distinguish
them from others
DenmarkDenmark
TaiwanTaiwan
ItalyItaly
High Individualism
U.S.U.S.
Low Individualism
IndiaIndia

26. 2-26
Values Across Culture: Collectivism
The degree to which people
value their duty to groups to
which they belong and to
group harmony
Highly collectivist people
define themselves by their
group membership and
value harmonious
relationships with those
groups
IndiaIndia
U.S.U.S.
TaiwanTaiwan
High Collectivism
ItalyItaly
Low Collectivism
DenmarkDenmark

27. 2-27
Values Across Culture: Power Distance
The degree that people
accept an unequal distribution
of power in a society
People with high power
distance accept and value
unequal power, obedience to
authority, and are comfortable
receiving commands from
their superiors without debate
JapanJapan
IsraelIsrael
DenmarkDenmark
VenezuelaVenezuela
High Power Distance
MalaysiaMalaysia
Low Power Distance
U.S.U.S.

28. 2-28
Values Across Culture: Uncertainty Avoidance
High U. A.
Low U. A.
JapanJapan
GreeceGreece
U.S.U.S.
The degree that people
tolerate ambiguity (low
uncertainty avoidance) or feel
threatened by ambiguity and
uncertainty (high uncertainty
avoidance)
People with high uncertainty
avoidance value structured
situations where rules of
conduct and decision making
are clearly documented
ItalyItaly
SingaporeSingapore

29. 2-29
Values Across Culture: Achievement-Nurturing
Achievement
Nurturing
JapanJapan
U.S.U.S.
SwedenSweden
The degree to which
people value
assertiveness,
competitiveness, and
materialism (achievement)
versus relationships and
well-being of others
(nurturing)
People with high
achievement orientation
value assertiveness,
competitiveness, and
materialism
ChinaChina
ChileChile
FranceFrance

30. 2-30
UtilitarianismUtilitarianism
IndividualIndividual
RightsRights
Greatest good for the greatest number of
people. Choosing the options providing the
highest degree of satisfaction to those
affected
Fundamental entitlements in society.
Examples are freedom of movement,
physical security, fair trial, and freedom of
speech
DistributiveDistributive
JusticeJustice
People who are similar should receive
similar benefits and burdens; those who
are dissimilar should receive different
benefits and burdens
Ethical Values and Behavior
Three Ethical Principles