Reference no: EM133819991

Principles of Management

Chapter - Personality, Attitudes, and Work Behaviors

PERSONALITY AND VALUES: QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

Question 1. Think about the personality traits covered in this section. Can you think of jobs or occupations that seem particularly suited to each trait? Which traits would be universally desirable across all jobs?

Question 2. What are the unique challenges of managing employees who have low self-efficacy and self-esteem? How would you deal with this situation?

Question 3. What are some methods that companies can use to assess employee personality?

Question 4. Have you ever held a job where your personality did not match the demands of the job? How did you react to this situation? How were your attitudes and behaviors affected? Hire writer now!

Question 5. identify ways in which the Big Five (of the manager and/or the employees) may affect how you as a manager would carry out the Leadership function.

I. Discussion Questions

A. PERCEPTION
Question 1. What are some of the typical errors that we experience when we observe physical objects?

Question 2. What are the problems of false consensus error? How can managers deal with this tendency?

Question 3. Describe a situation where perception biases have or could affect any of the P-O-L-C facets. Use an example you have experienced or observed, or, if you do not have such an example, create a hypothetical situation. How do we manage the fact that human beings develop stereotypes? Is there such a thing as a good stereotype? How would you prevent stereotypes from creating unfairness in management decisions?

Question 4. Describe a self-fulfilling prophecy you have experienced or observed in action. Was the prophecy favorable or unfavorable? If unfavorable, how could the parties have chosen different behaviors to produce a more positive outcome?

B. WORK ATTITUDES
Question 1. What is the difference between job satisfaction and organizational commitment? How do the two concepts relate to one another?

Question 2. Do you think making employees happier at work is a good way of motivating people? When would high satisfaction be related to high performance?

Question 3. In your opinion, what are the three most important factors that make people dissatisfied with their job? What are the three most important factors relating to organizational commitment?

Question 4. How important is pay in making people attached to a company and making employees satisfied?

C. WORK BEHAVIORS
Question 1. What is the difference between performance and organizational citizenship behaviors? As a manager, how would you improve someone's performance? How would you increase citizenship behaviors?

Question 2. Are citizenship behaviors always beneficial to the company? Can you think of any citizenship behaviors employees may perform with the intention of helping a company but that may have negative consequences overall?

Question 3. Have you ever observed counterproductive behaviors at work or school? Why did they happen? How could they have been prevented?

Question 4. What are the major causes of absenteeism at work? How can companies minimize the level of absenteeism that takes place?

Question 5. In some companies, managers are rewarded for minimizing the turnover within their department or branch. A part of their bonus is directly tied to keeping the level of turnover below a minimum. What do you think about the potential effectiveness of these programs? Do you see any downsides to such programs?

D. DEVELOPING YOUR POSITIVE ATTITUDE SKILLS
Question 1. Do you believe that your own happiness at work is in your hands? What have you done in the past to increase your own satisfaction with work?

Question 2. Consider the most negative person you work or interact with. Why do you think they focus more on the negative side of life?

Question 3. On the basis of what you have read in this chapter, can you think of ways in which you can improve your effectiveness in dealing with negative coworkers?

E. CASE IN POINT: ZOOM VIDEO COMMUNICATIONS DELIVERING HAPPINESS

Question 1. Review websites such as Glassdoor and Comparably to see what employees like and dislike about working at Zoom. Would you like to work in a company such as this?

Question 2. Zoom uses "happiness" as part of their brand as an employer. What advantages and downsides do you see to this brand?

Question 3. What is the connection between employee attitudes, customer satisfaction, and revenue growth as described in this case? How generalizable is this relationship to other industries and companies?

Question 4. Zoom had an IPO in 2019, which made it a public company. How do you expect that this may affect their corporate culture over time?

Question 5. The case mentions many factors that could affect employee happiness, such as happiness crews and generous perks. Which elements mentioned in the case do you believe are the most critical to employee happiness?