Download Module 5: Leading

Module 5: Leading
Section 1: Foundations of individual and group behavior
Learning objectives
• Understand basic concepts of individual behaviors
• Explain how managers can shape employee behavior based on the
understanding of these concepts
• Describe group concepts
• Identify differences between groups and teams
• Explain how managers can shape team behaviors
Attitude
• Attitude is defined as valuative statements, either favorable or
unfavorable, concerning objects, people, or events (e.g., job satisfaction,
job involvement, and organizational commitment)
 Cognitive component of an attitude is made up of the beliefs, opinions, knowledge,
and information held by a person.
 Affective component of an attitude is the emotional, or feeling, segment of an
attitude.
 Behavioral component of an attitude refers to an intention to behave in a certain
way toward someone or something.
Attitude and behavior
• Relationship between attitude and behavior
 Cognitive dissonance theory identifies that individuals’ attempt to reduce
dissonance is based on
 Whether the dissonance is controllable
 Whether rewards are significant enough to offset the dissonance
 The degree of tension under which individuals are to reduce the dissonance
• Implications of understanding this relationship to managers
 Change employees’ attitudes first in order to change their behaviors
 Offer rewards to reduce dissonance
Personality
• Personality is the combination of the psychological traits.
Techniques for identifying personality types include:
 Myers-Briggs type indicator
http://www.geocities.com/dan_atteberry/MYERS-BRIGGS_KEIRSEY.html
 Big-five model of personality
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Type of Social
Interaction
Extrovert (E)
Preference for
Gathering Data
Sensing (S)
Preference for
Evaluating information
Feeling (F)
Attitude toward
the external world
Introvert (I)
Intuitive (N)
Thinking (T)
Perceiving (P)
Judging (J)
6
Extroversion
Agreeableness
The “Big-Five”
Personality
Model
Conscientiousness
Emotional Stability
Openness to experiences
7
Emotional Intelligence
Self-Awareness
Self-Management
Self-Motivation
Empathy
Social Skills
8
Personality and behavior
Five specific personality traits can be used to explain individual
behavior
• Locus of control
• Machiavellianism
• Self-esteem
• Self-monitoring
• Risk propensity
Holland’s Personality-Job Fit Theory
Type
Personality
Occupations
Realistic
Shy, Stable, Practical
Mechanic, Farmer,
Assembly-Line Worker
Investigative
Analytical, Independent
Biologist, Economist,
Mathematician
Social
Sociable, Cooperative
Social Worker,
Teacher, Counselor
Conventional
Practical, Efficient
Accountant, Manager
Bank Teller
Enterprising
Ambitious, Energetic
Lawyer, Salesperson
Artistic
Imaginative, Idealistic
Painter, Writer,
Musician
10
• Implications of understanding personality to managers
– Different individuals have different personality
– Match personality with jobs (e.g., Holland’s typology)
– Carefully select appropriate employees
Perception
• Factors influencing perception
– Characteristics of the perceiver
– Characteristics of the target being perceived
– Context where the perception is made
• Attribution theory tries to explain how we judge people
differently by analyzing what meaning we attribute to a given
behavior
The process of attribution theory
High
distinctiveness
External
Low
Internal
High
Individual
behavior
External
consensus
Low
Internal
High
Internal
consistency
observation
interpretation
Low
External
Attribution of
causes 13
• Implications of understanding perception to managers
• Employees’ perception has effects on their behaviors
• Managers should pay attention to how employees perceive both their jobs and
management practices
• Managers try to change employees’ perceptions if necessary
• Understand bias existing in the perception generation (i.e., fundamental
attribution error and self-serving bias)
Learning
• Learning theories
– Operant conditioning
• Operant behavior is voluntary or learned rather than reflexive or
unlearned behavior
• argues that voluntary, or learned, behavior is a function of its
consequences (e.g., people learn to get something they want or to
avoid something they don’t want)
• Social learning theory
– assumes behavior is a function of consequences
– at the same time, emphasizes that people can learn through observation and direct
experience
– The influence of models is decided by
• Attention processes (e.g., models’ attractiveness)
• Retention process (e.g., how well models will be remembered)
• Motor reproduction processes (e.g., convert what learned to behavior)
• Reinforcement process (e.g., repeat rewarded behavior)
How to shape employees’ behavior?
–
–
–
–
–
Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Role model
Group behavior
• Group: two or more interacting and interdependent individuals
who come together to achieve particular objectives
– Formal groups are work groups established by the organization that
have designated assignments and established tasks
– Informal groups are natural formation that appear in the work
environment in response to the need for social contact.
Why do people join groups?
• Security
• Status
• Self-esteem
• Affiliation
• Power
• Goal achievement
Basic concepts of group behavior
• Role refers to a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to
someone who occupies a given position in a social unit.
• Norms define acceptable standards that are shared by the group’s
members (e.g., dress code)
• Status is a prestige grading, position, or rank within a group
• Group size
– Large groups are good for gaining diverse input
– Small groups are better for taking action
• Social loafing
– the tendency of an individual in a group to decrease his or her effort because
responsibility and individual achievement can not be measure
• Group cohesiveness
– the degree to which members of a group are attracted to each other and share goals
Group cohesiveness and
productivity
Alignment of group and
Organizational goals
Cohesiveness
High
Low
High
Strong increase Moderate increase
In productivity In productivity
Low
Decrease in
productivity
No significant
effect
22
Team
• Work group: a group that interacts primarily to share information
and to make decisions that will help each member perform
within his or her area of responsibility
• Work team: a group that engages in collective work that requires
joint effort and generates a positive synergy
Comparing work teams and
work groups
Work groups
Work teams
Collective performance
Goal
Share information
Positive
Synergy
Neutral or negative
Individual and mutual
Accountability
Individual
Complementary
Skills
Random and
varied
24
Stages of team development
Prestage I
Stage I
Forming
Stage II
Storming
Stage III
Norming
Stage IV
Performing
Stage V
Adjourning
25
Types of work teams
classified on the basis of objectives
• Functional teams
– A team that is composed of a manage and the employees in his or her
unit and involved in efforts to improve work activities or to solve
specific problems within the particular functional unit
• Problem-solving teams
– Work teams typically are composed of 5 to 12 hourly employees from the same
departments who meet each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency,
and the work environment.
An example of problem-solving team is quality circles (i.e., teams are composed of 8
to 10 employees and supervisors who share an area of responsibility and who meet
regularly to discuss quality problems, investigate the causes of the problems,
recommend solutions, and take corrective actions but who have no authority.
• Self-managed work team
– A formal group of employees that operates without a manager and is
responsible for a complete work process or segment that delivers a
product or service to an external or internal customer
• Cross-functional work team
A team that is composed of employees from about the same hierarchical
level but from differed work areas in an organization who are brought
together to accomplish a particular task
• Virtual team
– An electronic meeting team, allows groups to meet without concern for
space or time
Clear
Goals
Unified
Commitment
Good
Communication
Effective Teams
Relevant
Skills
Mutual
Trust
Negotiating
Skills
Effective
Leadership
Internal
Support
External
Support
31
Key Roles on Teams
Adviser
Linker
Creator
Promoter
Assessor
Organizer
Producer
Controller
Maintainer
32
Turning individuals into team players
• Management challenges of creating team players
– Individual preferences
– National culture
– Work environment
• Methods of shaping team behavior
– Proper selection
– Employee training
– Rewarding the appropriate team behaviors
• Reinvigorate mature teams
–
–
–
–
Prepare members to deal with the problems of maturity
Offer refresher training
Offer advanced training
Encourage teams to treat their development as a constant learning
experience
Summary
• Organizations comprise of individuals and groups. Understanding
individual and group behaviors helps improve management practice and
organizational performance.
• Four basic concepts regarding individual behaviors include attitude,
personality, perception, and learning.
• Team is flexible and responsive to a change environment. It is also a
better way to utilize various skills.
• Teams are particularly effective for resolving complex problems,
responding to urgent issues, and implementing continuous process
improvement.