Chapter 2

Question 1

What are the four direct predictors of individual performance in the work place?

(MARS)

Answer 1

1. Motivation
2. Ability
3. Role Perceptions
4. Situational factors

Question 2

Define motivation. Describe what individual voluntary behaviors it affects.

(4)

Answer 2

1. Motivation is the force within a person that affects his or her direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior.
2. Direction refers to the path along which people steer their effort.
3. Intensity is the amount of effort allocated to achieving a goal.
4. Persistence refers to the length of time that the individual continues to exert effort towards their objective.

Question 3

Define ability and its components. What is the relationship between ability and individual behavior?

(5)

Answer 3

1. Ability includes both the natural aptitudes and learned capabilities required to successfully complete a task.
2. Aptitudes are the natural talents that help individuals learn a task quickly and perform better.
3. Learned capabilities are the skills and knowledge acquired by individuals which tend to wane over time if not practiced.
4. Employee competencies = aptitude + capability
5. A match between ability and job requirements is the goal.

Question 4

What are the strategies to match employee ability to job requirement?

(3)

Answer 4

1. Choose applicants who already have the required competencies.
2. Train employees who lack knowledge or skills for the job.
3. Redesign the job to match employee competencies.

Question 5

Define role perception and the benefits of role clarity on individual behavior. Describe the components of role clarity.

(3)

Answer 5

1. Role perceptions are the degree to which a person understands the job duties assigned to or expected of him or her. Ranges from role clarity to role ambiguity.
2. Employees with role clarity perform work more accurately and efficiently.
3. Role clarity:
4. Clear understanding of specific duties and consequences for which they are accountable.
5. Understanding the priorities of their various tasks.
6. Understanding the preferred behaviors and procedures for accomplishing a task.

Question 6

Define situational factors and how it affects individual behavior.

Answer 6

1. Situational factors are any context beyond the employee’s immediate control.
2. Work context constrains or facilitates behavior and performance.
3. Work context provides cues that guide and motivate people.

Question 7

What are the 5 main types of individual behavior?

Answer 7

1. Task performance
2. Maintaining attendance
3. Organizational citizenship
4. Joining/staying with the organisation
5. Counter-productive behavior

Question 8

Define the individual behavior of task performance and its three components.

(3)

Answer 8

1. Task performance: individual’s voluntary goal-directed behaviors that contribute to the organization. Consists of proficient task performance, adaptive task performance and proactive task performance.
2. Proficient task performance: performing the work efficient and accurately to the expected standards of quality, quantity and other indicators of effectiveness.
3. Adapative task performance: how well employees modify their thoughts and behaviors to align beneficially to a changing environment.
4. Proactive task performance: how well employees anticipate and introduce new work patterns that benefit the organisation.

Question 9

Define organisational citizenship behaviours and the positive and negative effects it may have.

(4)

Answer 9

1. Organisational citizenship behaviors (OCBS) are the various forms of cooperation and helpfulness extended to others to support the organization’s social and psychological context. Eg. helping coworkers, being genuinely courteous, sharing work resources
2. Positive OCBs have higher task performance because the receive more support from coworkers
3. Positive OCBs also increase team performance when members are interdependent.
4. May distract from task performance and affect work-life balance.

Question 10

Define counterproductive work behaviours.

Answer 10

1. Counterproductive work behaviors are voluntary behaviors that directly or indirectly harm the organization or its stakeholders.

Question 11

Define personality and explain why it becomes more stable with age.

(3)

Answer 11

1. Personality is the relatively enduring pattern of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that characterise a person, along with the psychological processes behind those characteristics.
2. Personality is shaped by both nature and nurture.
   * Up to 50% of variation in behavior and 30% of temperament preferences are attributed to genes (twin studies)
3. The older we are, the clearer our concept of self. Our executive function monitors and regulates our goal-direct behavior to keep it consistent with our self-concept.

Question 12

Define the five-factor model and list its components.

(5)

Answer 12

1. The five-factor model (FFM) is the five broad dimensions representing most personality traits and include:
2. Conscientiousness
3. Agreeableness
4. Neuroticism (emotional stability)
5. Openness to experience
6. Extraversion

Question 13

Define conscientiousness and how it predicts different types of performances.

(4)

Answer 13

1. Conscientiousness characterises people who are organised, dependable, goal-focussed, thorough, disciplined, methodical, and industrious.
2. People with low conscientiousness tend to be careless, disorganised, and less thorough
3. Conscientiousness is the best overall personality predictor of proficient task performance.
   * Conscientious employees set higher personal goals for themselves and tend to be more persistent.
4. Conscientiousness is a weak predictor of adpative and proactive performance

Question 14

Define extraversion and introversion and explain how it predicts different types of performances.

Answer 14

1. Extraversion describes people who are outgoing, talkative, energetic, sociable and assertive.
   * Extraverts get their energy from people and things around them.
2. Introversion applies to people who are quiet, cautious and less interactive with others.
   * Introverts get their energy from personal reflection on concepts and ideas and are more comfortable being alone.
3. Extraversion is the 2nd best overall predictor of task performance (but much weaker than conscientiousnes).

• Better predictor of adaptive and proactive performance because assertive employees frame situations as challenges rather than threats.
• Can-do atitude.
• Leaders tend to be more extroverted

Question 15

Define agreeableness and explain how it predicts different types of perfromances.

Answer 15

1. Employees with high agreeableness are motivated to be cooperative, sensitive, flexible and supportive.

• Agreeableness predicts an individual’s performance as team member as well as in customer service jobs but not general proficient or proactive task performance.
• Positively associated with organisational citizenship and negatively associated with counterproductive work behaviors.

Question 16

Define openness to change and explain how it predicts different types of performance.

Answer 16

1. Employees with higher openness to experience have more curiosity, imagination and tolerance for change.

• Weak predictor of proficient task performance.
• One of the best predictors of adaptive and proactive performance.

Question 17

Define emotional stability and how it predicts different types of performance.

Answer 17

1. People with higher emotional stability cope better with the ambiguity and uncertainty of change while those with high neuroticism tend to view change as a threat and experience more stress.

• Moderately associated with proficient task performance, organisational citizenship and counterproductive work behaviors. (But neither strong nor consistent)
• One of the best predictors of adapative performance.

Question 18

Define values and explain how they differ from personality traits. Define value system.

Answer 18

1. Values tell us what to do and serve as a moral compass that directs our motivation and potentially our decisions and actions.

• Values are evaluative and tell us what we ought to do whereas personality traits describe what we naturally tend to do.
• Personality traits have minimal conflict with each other but some values contradict.

2. People arrange values in an hierarchy of preferences called a value system.

Question 19

Define the 4 quadrants of Schwartz’s values circumplex.

Answer 19

1. One widely accepted model of personal values is Schwartz’s values circumplex. 10 values clustered into 4 quadrants:
2. Openness to change refers to the extent to which a person is motivated to pursue innovative ways.
   * Self-direction, stimulation, hedonism
3. Conservation is the extent to which a person is motivated to preserve the status quo.

• Opposite to openness to change
• Conformity, security, tradition

4. Self-enhancement refers to how much a person is motivated by self-interest.
   * Achievement, power, hedoinism
5. Self-transcedence refers to motivation to promote the welfare of others and nature.

• Opposite to self-enhancement
• Benenolence, unversalism

Question 20

List 3 ways that values affect our behavior and 2 reasons why they don’t.

Answer 20

1. Values directly motivate our behavior by shaping the relative attractiveness of choices available.
2. Values frame our perception of reality by shaping whether we notice something or how we intepret it.
3. We are motivated to act consistently with our self-concept and public self-presentation. Particularly for behaviors with a clear underlying value.
4. Situations or other strong counter-motivational forces (consequences) influence behavior, causing people to sometimes act opposite to their values.
5. We also don’t constantly think about our values and their relevance may not be relevant all the time. (eg. daily events).
   * People are more likey to apply their values if they are explicitly reminded to and see their relevance to the situation.

Question 21

Define values congruence and how it benefits individuals, teams and organisations.

Answer 21

1. Values congruence refers to how similar a person’s values hierarchy is to that of their team or organisation.

• Value congruence improves cohesion and performance in teams and organisations.
• Improves employee’s job satisfaction, loyalty and organisational citizenship as well as lower stress and turnover.

Question 22

Define ethics and list and describe 3 ethical principles.

Answer 22

1. Ethics refers to the study of moral principles or values that determine whether actions are right or wrong and outcomes are good or bad.
2. Utilitarianism:

• Our only moral obligation is to seek the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
• We choose the option that provides the highest degree of satisfaction to those affected.
• Require’s a cost benefit which is not always possible and could justify immoral acts if it produces the greatest overall good.

3. Individual rights:

• Everyone has the same set of natural rights and that everyone is granted these as a moral norm of society.
• However, one person’s individual rights may conflict with another persons.

4. Distributive justice
   * The benefits and burdens of similar individuals should be the same or proportional.

Question 23

List 3 factors that influence ethical behavior.

(1-4, 2-5, 3)

Answer 23

1. Moral intensity is the degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles. It is higher when:

• Decision will have substantially good or bad consequences
• Most people view the decision outcomes as good or bad
• High probability that the consequence of the decision will occur
• Affects many people

2. Moral sensitivity is a personal characteristic that determines the extent to which they can detect a moral dilemma and estimate its relative importance. Affected by

• Knowledge of prescriptive norms and rules
• Previous experience with moral dilemma
• Ability to empathise
• People who identify themselves by their moral character are more sensitive
• Mindfulness: Refers to a person’s impartial attention to and awareness of the present situation and their own thoughts and emotions.
  
  • Increases moral sensitvity because it involves monitoring the environment and self.

3. Situational factors

Question 24

State 3 ways organisations can support ethical behavior.

Answer 24

1. Code of ethical conduct is a statement about desired activities, rules of conduct, and philosophy about the organisation’s relationship to its stake holders and the environment.
2. Train and regularly evaluate employees about their knowledge of proper ethical conduct.
   * Eg. ethics audits, anonymous report hotlines for unethical behavior.
3. Example of leaders