Understanding Individual Behavior

Individual Behavior
Chapter 13
Management


Stephen P. Robbins Mary Coulter


tenth edition

Outcomes Follow this Learning Outline as you read and study this

13.1 Focus and Goals of Individual Behavior
Explain why the concept of an organization as an iceberg is important to understanding organizational behavior.
Describe the focus and the goals of organizational behavior.
Define the six important employee behaviors that managers want to explain, predict, and influence.
13.2 Attitudes and Performance
Describe the three components of an attitude.
Explain the four job-related attitudes.
Describe the impact job satisfaction has on employee behavior.

Outcomes
13.3 Personality
Contrast the MBTI® and the big five model of

Outcomes
13.5 Contemporary OB Issues
Describe the challenges managers face in managing

13.1 The Organization as an Iceberg

Focus and Goals of Individual Behavior
Organizational Behavior (OB)
The actions of

of Organizational Behavior
To explain, predict and influence behavior.
Employee Productivity
A performance

Employee Behaviors (cont’d)
Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Discretionary behavior that is not

Employee Behaviors (cont’d)
Workplace Misbehavior
Any intentional employee behavior that has negative

Factors Affecting Employee Behavior
Attitudes
Personality
Perception
Learning
Employee Productivity
Absenteeism
Turnover
Organizational Citizenship
Job Satisfaction
Workplace Misbehavior

Factors – Attitudes
Attitudes
Evaluative statements—either favorable or unfavorable—concerning objects, people, or

Satisfaction
Job satisfaction is affected by level of income earned and

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

Satisfaction and Absenteeism
Satisfied employees tend to have lower levels of

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction
The level of job satisfaction for frontline

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

Satisfaction and Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB)
Relationship between job satisfaction and

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

Involvement
The degree to which an employee identifies with his or

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

Commitment
Is the degree to which an employee identifies with a

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

Organizational Support
Is the general belief of employees that their organization

Psychological Factors – Attitudes

13–2 Key Employee Engagement Factors

and Consistency
People seek consistency in two ways:
Consistency among their attitudes.
Consistency

Dissonance Theory
Cognitive Dissonance
Any incompatibility or inconsistency between attitudes or between

Surveys
Attitude Surveys
A instrument/document that presents employees with a set of

13–3 Sample Employee Survey
To measure employee attitudes, some

Importance of Attitudes
Implication for Managers
Attitudes warn of potential behavioral problems:

unique combination of emotional, thought and behavioral patterns that affect

Psychological Factors – Personality

Personality Traits
Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
A general personality assessment tool

13.4 Examples of MBTI® Types
Source: Based on I. Briggs-Myers, Introduction to

Big-Five Model
Extraversion
Sociable, talkative, and assertive
Agreeableness
Good-natured, cooperative, and trusting
Conscientiousness
Responsible, dependable, persistent,

Emotional Stability
Calm, enthusiastic, and secure or tense, nervous, and insecure
Openness to Experience
Imaginative, artistically sensitive, and intellectual

Personality Insights
Locus of Control
Internal locus: persons who believe that

(SE)
The degree to which people like or dislike themselves
High SEs
Believe

Additional Personality Insights

individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external,

Additional Personality Insights

Taking
The propensity (or willingness) to take risks.
High risk-takers take less

Additional Personality Insights

Types in Different Cultures
The Big Five model is used in

feelings (reactions) that are directed at specific objects (someone or

Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence (EI)
The ability to notice and to manage emotional

for Managers
Employee selection
Holland’s Personality-Job Fit Theory
Helps in understanding employee

Personality Differences
Personality Job Fit Theory (Holland)
An employee’s job satisfaction and

13.5 Holland’s Typology of Personality and Sample Occupations
Source: Based on J.

process by which individuals give meaning (reality) to their environment

Psychological Factors – Perception

13.6 Perception Challenges: What Do You See?

We Perceive People
Attribution Theory
How the actions of individuals are perceived

13.7 Attribution Theory

We Perceive People (cont’d)
Attribution Theory – errors and biases (cont’d)
Fundamental

Used in Judging Others
Assumed Similarity
Assuming that others are more like

for Managers
Employees react to perceptions
Pay close attention to how employees

relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result

Psychological Factors – Learning

(cont’d)
Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner)
The theory that behavior is a function

(cont’d)
Social Learning
The theory that individuals learn through their observations of

A Managerial Tool
Shaping Behavior
Attempting to “mold” individuals by guiding their

for Managers
If managers want behavior A but reward behavior B,

Issues in OB
Managing Generational Differences in the Workplace
Gen Y: individuals

13.8 Gen Y Workers
Source: Bruce Tulgan of Rainmaker Thinking. Used with

Issues in OB
Managing Negative Behavior in the Workplace
Tolerating negative behavior

to Know
behavior
organizational behavior
employee productivity
absenteeism
turnover
organizational citizenship behavior
job satisfaction
workplace misbehavior
attitudes
cognitive component
affective component
behavioral

to Know (cont’d)
self-esteem
self-monitoring
impression management
emotions
emotional intelligence (EI)
perception
attribution theory
fundamental attribution error
self-serving bias
assumed

halo effect
learning
operant conditioning
social learning theory
shaping behavior

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