Staying Put by Scott Russell Sanders Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Staying Put by Scott Russell Sanders - Essay Example According to the research findings it can therefore be said that in terms of the perspective of theologians and religious experts, the concept of God is the center of the universe and talks about enlightenment like a zen master once said indirectly that the personal level of consciousness is the best place for enlightenment or to be the center of own universe of understanding. Awareness is the first important point to make directions toward a good future as people throughout centuries had dealt with difficult circumstances to study and create varying fields of studies to make solid patterns and knowledge on how to direct towards a better future for the entire humanity. Divergence in the specializations in knowledge reflect varying paths and mongrel realities like in the United States wherein culture, religions, beliefs, races and ideas mix in varying proportions. In relation to the dilemma of the future path of the world, it cannot be denied that there are three things that are const ant: everything changes, everything has basis and everything is interconnected. Everything changes can mean that life is dynamic while having basis means everything happens for a reason. On the other hand, everything is interconnected shows the concept of unity which most religions teach to their faithful. The downside on the current trend of the world is that people are heading toward different directions and many are caught in the complexities that cause confusion as seen in ecology.

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay Example for Free

Distribution Channel of Banas Dairy Essay The present study is conducted in the Banas Dairy sales area Genesis of Banas Dairy Late ShriGalbhabhai Patel established Banas Dairy with the dream of uplifting socio economic status of village farmers. This dream was fulfilled through the creation of a co-operative milk union for Banaskantha district, on the footprint of â€Å"Amul Dairy† of Kaira district, the ideal model of a Co-operative. Consequently eight village level co-operative milk societies in Vadgam and Palanpur taluk Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at DudhSagar Dairy, Mehsana from 3rd October 1966. The milk union got registered under Co-operative act on 31st January 1969 as Banaskantha District Co-operative milk producers’ Union Limited, popularly known as Banas Dairy. The foundation stone was laid by Late Galbabhai Nanjibhai Patel on 14th January 1971 at 122 acres land acquired near Jagana village in order to set up a dairy plant under the operation flood program launched by national Dairy development Board. On 7th May 1971’ the dairy started functioning at the same place with a capacity of 1. 5 lakh liters of milk per day. This has now been increased to 24. 3 lakh liters per day. The dairy has three automated plants with a wide 8-9 product lines. The small dream of Shri Galbabhai has now taken the shape of a co-operative of 1350 societies with around 15000 members. With the relentless efforts of dedicated and committed leadership, the dairy has won the trust of milk producers of Banaskantha district and has brought about a happy change in the lives of all its members. It has come up as a major revolution in the upliftment of the residents of the district. Mission and Vision Banas District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Ltd. was established with the prime objective of eliminating the monopoly of private traders and providing the poor farmers the due that they deserve. Along with this it also ensures that the farmers are benefited the maximum out of their operations and activities. The mission of the organization is to provide sustainable means of livelihood to socio-economically downtrodden rural mass, while treading on the path of progress. The organization renews its vision every ten years. It strives to be a successful world class co-operative dairy. The objectives of the organization are clearly expressed through the quality policy, which states that: â€Å"I, the Banas Dairy, commit and aspire to fulfil the needs and expectations of our internal as Ill as external customers and delight them through our quality products and services. I shall achieve the goal through the followings: a). Applying principles of Quality Management Systems and Food Safety Management for continuous enrichment of our management processes. ). Providing remunerating returns, quality input services, introducing innovative and appropriate schemes and services to our milk producers. c). Motivating and providing and encouraging appropriate training for skill up-gradation of our employees. d). Protecting our value system and the environment by judicious use of all natural resources. † India is an agri- oriented country of the world. 70% people are living in rural area so I can say Indian peo ple are living in village the majority of population. The dream of late Galbabhai Patel, founder chairman and the selfless sage to uplift socio- economical status of village farmers came true after creation of a co- operative milk union for banaskantha district, on the foot print of â€Å"Amul Dairy†of kaira presently Anand) district on the model of true co operative milk societies in Vadgam and palanpur taluzka of district Ire registered and started collecting and pouring milk at Dudh Sagar dairy, Mahesana from 10th march 1969.

The Self Reflective Essay English Language Essay

The Self Reflective Essay English Language Essay Writing of an essay starts with a pre-writing process whereby the writer identifies appropriate invention strategies for his/her essay. This requires evaluation of invention techniques in order to use the ones that convey the objective of the essay to targeted audience. A good essay should have good flow of ideas that are well coordinated to keep the audience reading. It is important to peer review and critique an essay from a different writer as this enables one to critique his/her first draft of essay and make necessary corrections during essay revision. This self reflective essay addresses challenges faced while writing an essay and reflectively proposes solutions to such challenges. Self Reflective Essay In writing my essay, the pre- writing strategies that I used were brainstorming, cubing and classical invention. Brainstorming enabled me to break up a block in my thinking and come up with the right ideas concerning essay topic. I started by writing down every association regarding the subject in order to gain focus by subordinating the list of what I wrote into parts that would form the essay. This led me to cubing technique, which helped me to organize my thoughts and gain perspective that would most likely yield right ideas concerning essay topic. In my application for cubing technique, I attempted to describe, compare, associate, analyze and argue for and against the essay topic. I combined cubing technique with classical invention technique to ensure that I give detailed descriptions in my essay definitions, comparisons, relationships, circumstances and testimonies. Combining these three strategies for my prewriting effectively ensured that the essay addressed all relevant area s of essay topic because what was not clear using brainstorming strategy was addressed by cubing and classical invention techniques, which have provisions for more detailed information. I realized that applying different pre-writing techniques is the key to good essay because one technique provides for what is missing in the other one. For example, using brainstorming technique alone gave me many ideas on the subject, which I organized using Cubin and classical invention techniques. These techniques proved effective and I would consider using them for my next essay. My purpose for writing this essay was to prove to the audience that time has come for educators to change from traditional classroom teaching and learning approaches to disruptive innovative teaching strategies outside classroom that are more exciting to learners and teachers. My audience for the essay was learners and educators. I wanted the audience to know that students who travel to different parts of the world develop better social skills, are less rigid. They are more accommodative, have better problem solving skills and end up being better decision makers than the ones who do not. I wanted the audience to understand that learning should not be confined within classrooms but it should be innovative enough to build learners reasoning, social and cognitive skills. I wanted to completely capture the attention of the audience and get them into thinking about international travel learning and international conferences as disruptive innovative multicultural learning techniques that w ould equip learners with firsthand experience on different cultures. I wanted to move the audience into thinking of their next international travel learning destination by the time they are through with reading the essay. In previewing my peerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s essay, I looked for main ideas conveyed in the essay, clarity of the ideas and how the ideas have been expressed and coordinated to flow and capture the attention of the targeted audience. I also looked at how convincing and practical my peerà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s ideas were to the targeted audience. I learned that essays that are not well organized lack flow of information being conveyed and discourage the audience from reading further. I discovered the great need to organize an essay and bring out flow of ideas right from introduction to conclusion in order to establish a direct connection between the essay and the audience. This captures interest of the audience and motivates them to keep reading. I therefore felt that I should apply the same technique as applied in my peer reviewed article and improve on my articleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s clarity of ideas. In revising my essay, I started by revisiting my objective for writing the article in order to get a clear picture of the message that I wanted to convey to my audience. I then started reading my article as I critiqued it with an aim of establishing areas of improvement. I realized that my ideas needed to flow smoothly from one idea to another. The main revision involved linking up ideas to make my essay flow and keep the audienceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s interest captured throughout their reading. I revised the essay to ensure that it meets its objectives in conveying required message to audience and to establish a strong connection between my targeted audience and ideas being conveyed as this would make the audience to think along my school of thought. The revised draft was far much better than the original draft, with an excellent flow of ideas. I learned that revising an essay is important because it eliminates grammatical errors and brings out coordinated flow of ideas that keep the a udience motivated to continue reading. The strongest aspect of my essay was the clear convincing ideas that supported my essay objective and kept the audience motivated to read. Furthermore, there was an excellent flow of ideas in my essay that were well coordinated to make the audience evaluate themselves in my school of thought as conveyed by the essay. The weakest aspect of my essay was getting ideas to flow as most of my ideas were initially mixed up. However, this was addressed through revision of the essay. The writing challenges that I frequently ran into while writing this essay was getting the right words to explain ideas and capture the attention of audience. To address this challenge, I wrote one sentence at a time and read it to see if it clearly conveys required message before going to the next sentence. This was however time consuming although it gave my essay the right words and coordination to capture the attention of audience. For the next assignment I prefer to start by reviewing a peer article before I embark on mine as critiquing the peer article will make me write a better essay.

Wasteful :: essays research papers

Wasteful Repetition 12 years of our lives are spent learning the basics, 12 years. Yet, after those twelve years of near continuos education, colleges require us to relearn what we already know, knowledge that may be irrelevant to our chosen major. Core Curriulumn is a waste of time and money. Each year for twelve years we wake up on a day around August in order to attend required schooling. We learn english, mathematics, sciences, health, and history. School becomes our lives, almost a career that lasts approximately 120 months. For those 120 months we are taught the same subjects, not a year goes by that we were not required to take an English, Math, Science, and History courses. After successfully completing our â€Å"lower learning† studies and recieving our much awaited diplomas almost two thirds of us go on to college.1 Upon arrival at these institutions of higher learning we come to realize that our â€Å"Basic† learning is not over and we must extend our knowledge of said material before we can move on to things that more directly concern our majors. Colleges are asking us, rather, telling us to relearn the knowledge we, for the most part, already pocess. There are several things we lose when we agree to, or rather are required to retake the basics in college. Most likely foremost of what we lose,in students minds ,espeacially in todays society, is money. We spend outrageous sums of money to attend college for 4 years, individually the cost of tuition possibly ranges between 50,000 to 100,000.As a whole the nation spends in excess of $175 billion each year.2 Money wasted on learning the same material we were educated in for 12 years of our lives. Money that many of us do not have and if we are not fortunate enough to recieve a scholarship or any type, we must look towards students loans. By definition a loan is something that is lent on condition of being returned.3 Zachary Karabell,author of the book What’s College For?, wrote that: In the 1990’s alone, the average debt burden for a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  college student grew from 8,200 to 18,800. Given that   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  these students, once they graduate, tend to earn   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  between $20,000 and $30,000 a year, those debts are   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  heavy, and some schools have begun efforts to limit   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  borrowing by students. In addition to loans,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  three-quarters of all students work part time during   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the school yea, and more than 15 percent work   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  full-time.* For their money, for their investment, for   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  the hours they work in order to pay for their classes,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  these students expect to be taught something they don’t   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  already know. They expect to learn. And at the end,

Personality and Values

CHAPTER 4 Personality and Values LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter, students should be able to: 1. Define personality, describe how it is measured, and explain the factors that determine an individual’s personality. 2. Describe the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality framework and assess its strengths and weaknesses. 3. Identify the key traits in the Big Five personality model. 4. Demonstrate how the Big Five traits predict behavior at work. 5. Identify other personality traits relevant to OB. . Define values, demonstrate the importance of values, and contrast terminal and instrumental values. 7. Compare generational differences in values and identify the dominant values in today’s workforce. 8. Identify Hofstede’s five value dimensions of national culture. Summary and Implications for Managers Personality – What value, if any, does the Big Five model provide to managers? From the early 1900s through the mid-1980s, researchers sought to f ind a link between personality and job performance. The outcome of those 80-plus years of research was that personality and job performance were not meaningfully related across traits or situations. †[i] However, the past 20 years have been more promising, largely due to the findings surrounding the Big Five. Screening candidates for jobs who score high on conscientiousness—as well as the other Big Five traits, depending on the criteria an organization finds most important—should pay dividends. Each of the Big Five traits has numerous implications for important OB criteria.Of course, managers still need to take situational factors into consideration. [ii] Factors such as job demands, the degree of required interaction with others, and the organization’s culture are examples of situational variables that moderate the personality–job performance relationship. You need to evaluate the job, the work group, and the organization to determine the optimal p ersonality fit. Other traits, such as core self-evaluation or narcissism, may be relevant in certain situations, too. Although the MBTI has been widely criticized, it may have a place in organizations.In training and development, it can help employees to better understand themselves and it can help team members to better understand each other. And it can open up communication in work groups and possibly reduce conflicts. Values -Why is it important to know an individual’s values? Values often underlie and explain attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions. So knowledge of an individual’s value system can provide insight into what â€Å"makes the person tick. † Employees’ performance and satisfaction are likely to be higher if their values fit well with the organization.For instance, the person who places great importance on imagination, independence, and freedom is likely to be poorly matched with an organization that seeks conformity from its employees. Manag ers are more likely to appreciate, evaluate positively, and allocate rewards to employees who â€Å"fit in,† and employees are more likely to be satisfied if they perceive that they do fit in. This argues for management to strive during the selection of new employees to find job candidates who have not only the ability, experience, and motivation to perform but also a value system that is compatible with the organization’s.The chapter opens by introducing Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of the Blackstone Group. He profited to the tune of $7. 75 billion when his company went public. His combative style has not hindered his success as Fortune called him the â€Å"King of Wall Street. † Using military terms like war and he would rather kill off his rival; Blackstone has thrived under his leadership and has become one of the most profitable and feared investment groups on Wall Street. Schwarzman is not the easiest to work for. One executive was purportedly fired for the sou nd his nose made when he breathed.He may be a huge success but would you be willing to work for him? Brief Chapter Outline I. Personality A. What Is Personality? (PPT. 4–2) †¢ A dynamic concept †¢ Defined: the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others B. Personality Determinants (PPT 4-3) 1. Introduction †¢ Early arguments suggest heredity and environment. Current literature suggests three factors: heredity, environment, and situation. 2. Heredity 3. Environment C. Personality Traits (PPT 4-4) 1. Introduction 2.Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) (PPTs 4–5 – 4 – 6) †¢ Widely used in practice by major companies. 3. The Big Five Model (PPT 4–7) †¢ Five Basic Dimensions: o Extraversion o Agreeableness o Conscientiousness o Emotional stability o Openness to experience †¢ Research indicates relationships between these personality dimensions and job performance. D. How Do the Big Five Traits Pr edict Behavior? (PPT 4–8) †¢ Research has shown this to be a better framework. †¢ Certain traits have been shown to strongly relate to higher job performance E.Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB (PPT 4–9) 1. Core Self-Evaluation (Self-perspective) (PPT 4–9) †¢ Locus of Control o Internals o Externals †¢ Self-esteem †¢ Directly related to expectations for success 2. Machiavellianism (PPT 4–9) †¢ Individuals high on this dimension—pragmatic, emotional distance, and belief that the ends justify the means 3. Narcissism (PPT 4–9) †¢ Narcissists tend to be selfish and exploitive. 4. Self-Monitoring (PPT 4–10) †¢ Ability to adjust behavior to external, situational factors 5. Risk Taking (PPT 4–10) Managers in large organizations tend toward risk aversiveness. 6. Type A Personality (PPT. 4–11) †¢ A Type A personality is characterized as constant motion, impatient, obsessed with m easuring self-performance; whereas a Type B Personality (PPT 4–11) is more relaxed; does not suffer from a sense of time urgency. 7. Proactive Personality (PPT 4–11) †¢ Create positive change in their environments. †¢ More likely seen as leaders and change agents F. Personality and National Culture †¢ High amount of agreement among individuals in a country †¢ No common personality types for a country I.Values A. Introduction †¢ Values represent basic convictions: (PPT 4–12) o There is a judgmental element of what is right, good, or desirable. o Values have both content and intensity attributes. o Values are not generally fluid and flexible. ? They tend to be relatively stable and enduring. ? A significant portion of the values we hold is established in our early years—from parents, teachers, friends, and others. B. Importance of Values (PPT 4–13) †¢ Values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motiv ation. †¢ Values generally influence attitudes and behavior. C.Types of Values 1. Rokeach Value Survey (PPTs 4–14 to 4–16) (Exhibit 4–3) †¢ Two sets of values, each set had 18 individual value items: o Terminal values—refer to desirable end-states of existence, the goals that a person would like to achieve during his/her lifetime o Instrumental values—refer to preferable modes of behavior, or means of achieving the terminal values †¢ Several studies confirm that the RVS values vary among groups. o People in the same occupations or categories tend to hold similar values. Although there may be overlap among groups, there are some significant differences as well. (Exhibit 4–4) 2. Contemporary Work Cohorts †¢ Different generations hold different work values. o Veterans—entered the workforce from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. o Boomers—entered the workforce during the 1960s through the mid-1980s. o Xer s—began to enter the workforce from the mid-1980s. o Nexters—most recent entrants into the workforce. D. Values, Loyalty, and Ethical Behavior (PPT 4–17) †¢ Many people think there has been a decline in business ethics since the late 1970s.The four-stage model of work cohort values might explain this perception. (Exhibit 4–5) †¢ Managers consistently report the action of bosses as the most important factor influencing ethical and unethical behavior in the organization. II. Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace A. Person-Job Fit †¢ Personality-job fit theory (PPTs 4–18 to 4–21) (Exhibit 4–6) o Each personality type has a congruent occupational environment. B. The Person-Organization Fit †¢ People leave organizations that are not compatible with their personalities. Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) o Match individual values to organization’s values. IV. Global Implications A. Personality . B. Values Across Cultures 1. Introduction †¢ Values differ across cultures. 2. Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Cultures (PPTs 4-22 – 4-28) †¢ One of the most widely referenced approaches for analyzing variations among cultures has been done by Geert Hofstede. o Power distance o Individualism versus collectivism o Masculinity versus femininity o Uncertainty avoidance Long-term versus short-term orientation 3. The GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures (Exhibit 4–8) †¢ In 1993, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) began updating this research with data from 825 organizations and 62 countries. †¢ Nine dimensions on which national cultures differ: o Assertiveness o Future orientation o Gender differentiation o Uncertainty avoidance o Power distance o Individualism/collectivism o In-group collectivism o Performance orientation o Humane orientation 4. Implications for OBV. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATI ONS FOR MANAGERS (PPT 4-30) A. Personality ? Conscientiousness is often a major factor for successful employees ? The MBTI can be used to better understand each other ? Managers use the Big Five to view employee personality B. Values ? Values influence attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors ? Values can be measured using the Rokeach Values Survey ? It is important that the values of the employee and the organization match Expanded Chapter Outline Personality A. What Is Personality? Personality is a dynamic concept describing the growth and development of a person’s whole psychological system; it looks at some aggregate whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. †¢ Gordon Allport coined the most frequent used definition: o â€Å"The dynamic organization within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment† †¢ The text defines personality as the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts to and interacts with others. †¢ It is most often described in terms of measurable traits that a person exhibits.B. Personality Determinants 1. Introduction †¢ An early argument centered on whether or not personality was the result of heredity or of environment. o Personality appears to be a result of both influences. o Today, we recognize a third factor—the situation. 4 Situation: 5 Influences the effects of heredity and environment on personality 6 The different demands of different situations call forth different aspects of one’s personality. 7 There is no classification scheme that tells the impact of various types of situations. 8 Situations seem to differ substantially in the constraints they impose on behavior. . Heredity †¢ Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. †¢ The heredity approach argues that the ultimate explanation of an individual’s personality is the molecular structure of the genes, located in the ch romosomes. †¢ Three different streams of research lend some credibility to the heredity argument: o The genetic underpinnings of human behavior and temperament among young children. Evidence demonstrates that traits such as shyness, fear, and distress are most likely caused by inherited genetic characteristics. One hundred sets of identical twins that were separated at birth were studied. Genetics accounts for about 50 percent of the variation in personality differences and over 30 percent of occupational and leisure interest variation. o Individual job satisfaction is remarkably stable over time. This indicates that satisfaction is determined by something inherent in the person rather than by external environmental factors. †¢ Personality characteristics are not completely dictated by heredity. If they were, they would be fixed at birth and no amount of experience could alter them. . Environment †¢ Factors that exert pressures on our personality formation: o The cult ure in which we are raised o Early conditioning o Norms among our family o Friends and social groups †¢ The environment we are exposed to plays a substantial role in shaping our personalities. †¢ Culture establishes the norms, attitudes, and values passed from one generation to the next and create consistencies over time. †¢ The arguments for heredity or environment as the primary determinant of personality are both important. Heredity sets the parameters or outer limits, but an individual’s full potential will be determined by how well he or she adjusts to the demands and requirements of the environment. C. Personality Traits 1. Introduction †¢ Early work revolved around attempts to identify and label enduring characteristics. o Popular characteristics include shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal, and timid. These are personality traits. o The more consistent the characteristic, the more frequently it occurs, the more important it is. Resea rchers believe that personality traits can help in employee selection, job fit, and career development. 2. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator †¢ One of the most widely used personality frameworks is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). †¢ It is a 100-question personality test that asks people how they usually feel or act in particular situations. †¢ Individuals are classified as: o Extroverted or introverted (E or I). o Sensing or intuitive (S or N). o Thinking or feeling (T or F). o Perceiving or judging (P or J). †¢ These classifications are then combined into sixteen personality types.For example: o INTJs are visionaries. They usually have original minds and great drive for their own ideas and purposes. They are characterized as skeptical, critical, independent, determined, and often stubborn. o ESTJs are organizers. They are realistic, logical, analytical, decisive, and have a natural head for business or mechanics. o The ENTP type is a conceptualizer. He or she is innovative, individualistic, versatile, and attracted to entrepreneurial ideas. This person tends to be resourceful in solving challenging problems but may neglect routine assignments. MBTI is widely used in practice. Some organizations using it include Apple Computer, AT&T, Citigroup, GE, 3M Co. and others. 3. The Big Five Model †¢ An impressive body of research supports that five basic dimensions underlie all other personality dimensions. The five basic dimensions are: o Extraversion. Comfort level with relationships. Extroverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable. Introverts tend to be reserved, timid, and quiet. o Agreeableness. Individual’s propensity to defer to others. High agreeableness people—cooperative, warm, and trusting.Low agreeableness people—cold, disagreeable, and antagonistic. o Conscientiousness. A measure of reliability. A high conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent. Those who score l ow on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized, and unreliable. o Emotional stability. A person’s ability to withstand stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure. Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure. o Openness to experience. The range of interests and fascination with novelty.Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive. Those at the other end of the openness category are conventional and find comfort in the familiar. †¢ Research found important relationships between these personality dimensions and job performance. o A broad spectrum of occupations was examined in addition to job performance ratings, training proficiency (performance during training programs), and personnel data such as salary level. o The results showed that conscientiousness predicted job performance for all occupational groups. Individuals who are dependable, reliab le, careful, thorough, able to plan, organized, hardworking, persistent, and achievement-oriented tend to have higher job performance. o Employees higher in conscientiousness develop higher levels of job knowledge. o There is a strong and consistent relationship between conscientiousness and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). o For the other personality dimensions, predictability depended upon both the performance criterion and the occupational group. o Extroversion predicts performance in managerial and sales positions. Openness to experience is important in predicting training proficiency. D. How Do the Big Five Traits Predict Behavior? †¢ Research has shown relationships between these personality dimensions and job performance. †¢ Employees who score higher for example in conscientiousness, develop higher levels of job knowledge †¢ Extraverts tend to be happier in their jobs and do better in jobs that require significant interpersonal interaction probably b ecause they have better social skills. E. Other Personality Traits Relevant to OB 1. Core Self-Evaluation (Self-perspective) People who have a positive core self-evaluation see themselves as effective, capable, and in control. †¢ People who have a negative core self-evaluation tend to dislike themselves. †¢ Locus of control o A person’s perception of the source of his/her fate is termed locus of control. ? There is not a clear relationship between locus of control and turnover because there are opposing forces at work. o Internals: People who believe that they are masters of their own fate ? Internals, facing the same situation, attribute organizational outcomes to their own actions.Internals believe that health is substantially under their own control through proper habits; their incidences of sickness and, hence, their absenteeism, are lower. ? Internals generally perform better on their jobs, but one should consider differences in jobs. ? Internals search more ac tively for information before making a decision, are more motivated to achieve, and make a greater attempt to control their environment, therefore, internals do well on sophisticated tasks. ? Internals are more suited to jobs that require initiative and independence of action. Externals: People who believe they are pawns of fate ? Individuals who rate high in externality are less satisfied with their jobs, have higher absenteeism rates, are more alienated from the work setting, and are less involved on their jobs than are internals. ? Externals are more compliant and willing to follow directions, and do well on jobs that are well structured and routine and in which success depends heavily on complying with the direction of others. †¢ Self-esteem o Self-esteem—the degree to which people like or dislike themselves. (SE) is directly related to expectations for success. o Individuals with high self-esteem will take more risks in job selection and are more likely to choose un conventional jobs than people with low self-esteem. o The most generalizable finding is that low SEs are more susceptible to external influence than are high SEs. Low SEs are dependent on the receipt of positive evaluations from others. o In managerial positions, low SEs will tend to be concerned with pleasing others. o High SEs are more satisfied with their jobs than are low SEs. 2. Machiavellianism Named after Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote in the sixteenth century on how to gain and use power. †¢ An individual high in Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance, and believes that ends can justify means. †¢ High Machs manipulate more, win more, are persuaded less, and persuade others more. †¢ High Mach outcomes are moderated by situational factors and flourish when they interact face-to-face with others, rather than indirectly, and when the situation has a minimum number of rules and regulations, thus allowing latitude for improvisation. High Machs m ake good employees in jobs that require bargaining skills or that offer substantial rewards for winning. 3. Narcissism †¢ Describes a person who has a grandiose sense of self-importance. †¢ They â€Å"think† they are better leaders. †¢ Often they are selfish and exploitive. 4. Self-Monitoring †¢ This refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external, situational factors. †¢ Individuals high in self-monitoring show considerable adaptability. They are highly sensitive to external cues, can behave differently in different situations, and are capable of presenting striking contradictions between heir public persona and their private self. †¢ Low self-monitors cannot disguise themselves in that way. They tend to display their true dispositions and attitudes in every situation resulting in a high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do. †¢ The research on self-monitoring is in its infancy, so p redictions must be guarded. Preliminary evidence suggests: o High self-monitors tend to pay closer attention to the behavior of others. o High self-monitoring managers tend to be more mobile in their careers and receive more promotions. High self-monitor is capable of putting on different â€Å"faces† for different audiences. 5. Risk Taking †¢ The propensity to assume or avoid risk has been shown to have an impact on how long it takes managers to make a decision and how much information they require before making their choice. †¢ High risk-taking managers make more rapid decisions and use less information in making their choices. †¢ Managers in large organizations tend to be risk averse; especially in contrast with growth-oriented entrepreneurs. †¢ Makes sense to consider aligning risk-taking propensity with specific job demands. 6. Type A Personality Type A personality is â€Å"aggressively involved in a chronic, incessant struggle to achieve more and mo re in less and less time, and, if required to do so, against the opposing efforts of other things or other persons. ’’ †¢ They are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly, are impatient with the rate at which most events take place, are doing do two or more things at once and cannot cope with leisure time. †¢ They are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire. †¢ In contrast to the Type A personality is the Type B Personality. Type B’s never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience. o Type B’s feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure is demanded by the situation. o Type B’s play for fun and relaxation, rather than exhibit their superiority at any cost. o They can relax without guilt. †¢ Type A personality compared to Type B personality o Type A’s operate under moderate to high levels of stress. They subject themselves to continuous time pressure, are fast workers, quantity over quality, work long hours, and are also rarely creative. Type A’s behavior is easier to predict than that of Type B’s. o Do Type A’s differ from Type B’s in their ability to get hired? ? Type A’s do better in job interviews; are more likely to be judged as having desirable traits such as high drive, competence, and success motivation. 7. Proactive Personality †¢ Actively taking the initiative to improve their current circumstances while others sit by passively †¢ Proactives identify opportunities, show initiative, take action, and persevere. †¢ Create positive change in their environment. More likely to be seen as leaders and change agents †¢ More likely to achieve career success F. Personality and National Culture †¢ The five personality factors identified in the Big Five model are found in almost all cross-cultur al studies. †¢ There are no common personality types for a given country. †¢ There are Type A’s in every country, but they tend to be more found in capitalist countries. Values A. Introduction †¢ Values Represent Basic Convictions o A specific mode of conduct or end-state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of onduct or end-state of existence. o They have both content and intensity attributes. o An individual’s set of values ranked in terms of intensity is considered the person’s value system. o Values have the tendency to be stable. o Many of our values were established in our early years from parents, teachers, friends, and others. B. Importance of Values †¢ Values lay the foundation for the understanding of attitudes and motivation. †¢ Values generally influence attitudes and behaviors. We can predict reaction based on understanding values. C.Types of Values (Value Classifications) 1. Roke ach Value Survey (Exhibit 4–3) †¢ This instrument contains two sets of values; each set has 18 value items. o Terminal Values—refer to desirable end states of existence. ? The goals that a person would like to achieve during his/her lifetime o Instrumental Values—refer to preferable modes of behavior. ? Means of achieving the terminal values o Several studies confirm that the RVS values vary among groups. o People in the same occupations or categories tend to hold similar values. Although there may be overlap among groups, there are some significant differences as well. 2. Contemporary Work Cohorts †¢ Different generations hold different work values. o Veterans—entered the workforce from the early 1940s through the early 1960s. o Boomers—entered the workforce during the 1960s through the mid-1980s. o Xers—entered the workforce beginning in the mid-1980s. o Nexters—most recent entrants into the workforce. D. Values, Loyalty, and Ethical Behavior †¢ Many people think there has been a decline in business ethics since the late 1970s. †¢ The four-stage model of work cohort alues might explain this perception (Exhibit 4–5). †¢ Managers consistently report the action of bosses as the most important factor influencing ethical and unethical behavior in organizations. III. Linking an Individual’s Personality and Values to the Workplace A. The Person-Job Fit: †¢ This concern is best articulated in John Holland’s personality-job fit theory. o Holland presents six personality types and proposes that satisfaction and the propensity to leave a job depends on the degree to which individuals successfully match their personalities to an occupational environment.The six personality types are: realistic, investigative, social, conventional, enterprising, and artistic o Each one of the six personality types has a congruent occupational environment. o Vocational Preference Inventory questionnaire contains 160 occupational titles. Respondents indicate which of these occupations they like or dislike; their answers are used to form personality profiles. o The theory argues that satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest when personality and occupation are in agreement. B. The Person-Organization Fit Most important for an organization facing a dynamic and changing environment, and requiring employees who are able to readily change tasks and move fluidly between teams †¢ It argues that people leave jobs that are not compatible with their personalities. †¢ Organizational Culture Profile (OCP) o Individuals have to sort their values in terms of importance. o Forced choice rationale—having to make hard choices that one’s true values become apparent o Match personal values to those of the organization.IV. Global Implications 1. Introduction †¢ Do personality frameworks like the Big Five Model transfer across cultures? There is a surprising amount of agreement across industrialized countries that they do. †¢ Values differ across cultures; therefore, understanding these differences helps to explain and to predict behavior of employees from different countries. One of the most widely referenced approaches for analyzing variations among cultures has been done by Geert Hofstede. 2. Hofstede’s Framework for Assessing Cultures Five value dimensions of national culture: o Power distance: The degree to which people in a country accept that power in institutions and organizations is distributed unequally. o Individualism versus collectivism: Individualism is the degree to which people in a country prefer to act as individuals rather than as members of groups. Collectivism equals low individualism. o Masculinity versus femininity: Masculinity is the degree to which values such as the acquisition of money and material goods prevail. Femininity is the degree to which people value relationships and show sensitivity and concern for others. Uncertainty avoidance: The degree to which people in a country prefer structured over unstructured situations. o Long-term versus short-term orientation: Long-term orientations look to the future and value thrift and persistence. Short-term orientation values the past and present and emphasizes respect for tradition and fulfilling social obligations. †¢ Hofstede Research Findings: o Asian countries were more collectivist than individualistic. o United States ranked highest on individualism. o German and Hong Kong rated high on masculinity. o Russia and The Netherlands were low on masculinity. China and Hong Kong had a long-term orientation. o France and the United States had short-term orientation. 3. The GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures †¢ Hofstede’s work is the basic framework for assessing cultures. However, it is nearly 30 years old. In 1993, the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) began updating this res earch with data from 825 organizations and 62 countries. †¢ GLOBE Framework for Assessing Cultures (Exhibit 4–8): o Assertiveness: The extent to which a society encourages people to be tough, confrontational, assertive, and competitive versus modest and tender. Future orientation: The extent to which a society encourages and rewards future-oriented behaviors such as planning, investing in the future and delaying gratification. o Gender differentiation: The extent to which a society maximized gender role differences. o Uncertainly avoidance: Society’s reliance on social norms and procedures to alleviate the unpredictability of future events. o Power distance: The degree to which members of a society expect power to be unequally shared. o Individualism/collectivism: The degree to which individuals are encouraged by societal institutions to be integrated into groups within organizations and society. In-group collectivism: The extent to which society’s members take pride in membership in small groups such as their families and circles of close friends, and the organizations where they are employed. o Performance orientation: The degree to which society encourages and rewards group members for performance improvement and excellence. o Humane orientation: The degree to which a society encourages and rewards individuals for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind to others. †¢ GLOBE Research Findings: o The GLOBE study had extended Hofstede’s work rather than replaced it. It confirms Hofstede’s five dimensions are still valid and provides updated measures of where countries are on each dimension. For example, the United States in the 70s led the world in individualism—today, it is in the mid-ranks of countries. 1. Implications for OB †¢ Twenty years ago organizational behavior had a strong American bias †¢ Many of the studies were completed with only American samples †¢ Now there has been a n increase in cross-cultural research †¢ OB is a global discipline V. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS A. Personality The Big Five provides a meaningful way for managers to examine personality ? Managers should look for employees high on conscientiousness ? Situational factors should be taken into consideration, they do impact personality-job performance ? The MBTI can be used for teams to better understand each other B. Values ? Values influence a person’s attitudes, perceptions and behaviors ? The Rokeach Values Survey can be used to measure an employee’s values ? Employees are often rewarded more often when their personal values match those of the organizationText Exercises |Myth or | | |Science? |†Entrepreneurs Are a Breed Apart† | This statement is true. A review of 23 studies on the personality of entrepreneurs revealed significant differences between entrepreneurs and managers on four of the Big Five: Entrepreneurs scored significantly hig her on conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience, and they scored significantly lower on agreeableness.Though of course not every entrepreneur achieves these scores, the results clearly suggest that entrepreneurs are different from managers in key ways. A fascinating study of MBA students provides one explanation for how entrepreneurs are different from others. Studying male MBA students with either some or no prior entrepreneurial experience, the authors found that those with prior experience had significantly higher levels of testosterone (measured by taking a saliva swab at the beginning of the study) and also scored higher on risk propensity.The authors of this study concluded that testosterone, because it is associated with social dominance and aggressiveness, energizes individuals to take entrepreneurial risks. Because individual differences in testosterone are 80 percent inherited, this study adds more weight to the conclusion that entrepreneurs are d ifferent from others. What’s the upshot of all this? An individual who is considering a career as an entrepreneur or a business owner might consider how she scores on the Big Five. To the extent that she is high in conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness and low in agreeableness, such a career might be for her.Class Exercise Place the students in teams of five. 1. Have one set of teams brainstorm specific traits essential to being a good professor. 2. Another set of teams should brainstorm job tasks handled by a good professor. 3. Have the teams record their criteria on the board. 4. As a class, create one set of five traits and five tasks for a professorial position. 5. Ask students what questions or teaching artifacts students would ask or review in matching professorial candidates to their jobs. International [pic] A Global PersonalityDetermining which employees will succeed on overseas business assignments is often difficult for an organization’s manag ers because the same qualities that predict success in one culture may not in another. Researchers, however, are naming personality traits that can help managers home in on which employees would be suited for foreign assignments. Organizational psychologist Robert Hogan, for example, states that emotional maturity, remaining composed under pressure, and being comfortable with uncertainty are traits that breed success in most jobs, and these traits may be especially valuable for the overseas employee to possess.In addition, according to the Center for Global Assignments (CGA), successful global executives tend to be open-minded and imaginative, and they also enjoy talking and networking with others. Other traits that have been linked to overseas employment success include curiosity and risk tolerance. Viewed from the perspective of the Big Five, characteristics such as open-mindedness and curiosity are similar to the Big Five trait openness to experience, while characteristics such a s enjoying talking with others and networking resemble the Big Five trait extraversion.For the overseas employee, being more open and extraverted may be particularly helpful in breaching communication barriers and cultivating trust, which in turn promotes cooperation. What is the ultimate upshot for organizations? When it comes to choosing employees for global assignments, personality can make a difference. Source: Based on J. E. Fernandez, â€Å"The Making of a Global Executive,† Journal of Business Strategy 24, no. 5, (2003), pp. 36–38. Class Exercise While the chapter does not contain this element, you may wish to choose from one of the other instructional resources provided for this chapter. [pic] IN THE [pic] Are U.S. Values Different? People in the United States are used to being criticized. After all, it was more than a century ago when the Irish playwright George Barnard Shaw wrote, â€Å"Americans adore me and will go on adoring me until I say something nice about them. † But as a result of the Iraq War and the fact that the United States is the world’s lone remaining superpower, its citizens are taking unprecedented criticism abroad. One critic sneered, â€Å"The American pursuit of wealth, size, and abundance—as material surrogates for happiness—is aesthetically unpleasing and ecologically catastrophic. † And many Europeans think that U. S. dults are obsessed with work. Some have even argued that the United States and Europe are becoming increasingly polarized. Overall, the United States is wealthier than Europe and has higher productivity. But what’s wrong with that? Well, some stats are not very positive. For example, compared to Europe, the United States is much more violent; it has 685 prisons for every 100,000 people, compared to 87 in the European Union. The United States has also increasingly seemed to reward power with money. For example, in 1980, the average CEO in the United States ea rned 40 times the annual income of the average manufacturing employee.Today, that ratio is 475:1! By comparison, the ratios are 24:1 in the U. K. , 15:1 in France, and 13:1 in Sweden. Finally, the United States contains 5 percent of the world’s population, but it is responsible for 25 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas output—which is, many scientists argue, responsible for global warming. Values may account for some of these differences. For example, in a study of people in 14 countries, those in the United States were more likely than others to see natural resources as elements at their disposal. And compared to Europeans, U. S. dults are more likely to believe that war is often necessary, that it is right to kill to defend property, and that physical punishment of children is necessary. Do you think U. S. values are an underlying factor behind some of these social phenomena? Or is this academic U. S. bashing? Based on: T. Judt, â€Å"Europe vs. America,â €  New York Review of Books, February 20, 2005, www. nybooks. com/articles/17726; P. W. Schultz and L. Zelezny, â€Å"Values as Predictors of Environmental Attitudes: Evidence for Consistency Across 14 Countries,† Journal of Environmental Psychology, September 1999, pp. 255–265; and A. McAlister, P. Sandstrom, P.Puska, A. Veijo, R. Chereches, and L. Heidmets, â€Å"Attitudes Towards War, Killing, and Punishment of Children Among Young People in Estonia, Finland, Romania, the Russian Federation, and the USA,† Bulletin of the World Health Organization 79, no. 5 (2001), pp. 382–387. Class Exercise This class exercise can help introduce the concept of â€Å"ethnocentrism† as it relates to value systems. It also may elicit some significant debate concerning the value system of â€Å"Americans† and others in the global economy. It is important to attempt to have students examine the arguments from a global perspective. 1. Have students break in to small groups.In each group have students examine each of the issues raised in the vignette (e. g. work obsession, crime and violence, executive compensation, utilization of natural resources). 2. Have students develop a value-based argument defending the position of the United States in terms of each of the issues. 3. Have students then take the same issues from a different global perspective. For example, you may wish to assign each group as a different â€Å"culture† (e. g. China, Japan, European Union, etc). 4. Have students report to the class. You may have an opportunity to encourage interesting debate of the issues.You should also incorporate Hofstede’s and GLOBE’s cultural analyses in the discussion. Point ( ( Counterpoint Traits Are Powerful Predictors of Behavior[iii] Point The essence of trait approaches in OB is that employees possess stable personality characteristics that significantly influence their attitudes toward, and behavioral reactions to , organizational settings. People with particular traits tend to be relatively consistent in their attitudes and behavior over time and across situations. Of course, trait theorists recognize that all traits are not equally powerful. They tend to put them into one of three categories.Cardinal traits are those so strong and generalized that they influence every act a person performs. Primary traits are generally consistent influences on behavior, but they may not show up in all situations. Finally, secondary traits are attributes that do not form a vital part of the personality but come into play only in particular situations. For the most part, trait theories have focused on the power of primary traits to predict employee behavior. Trait theorists do a fairly good job of meeting the average person’s face-validity test. Think of friends, relatives, and acquaintances you have known for a number of years.Do they have traits that have remained essentially stable over time? Most o f us would answer that question in the affirmative. If Cousin Anne was shy and nervous when we last saw her 10 years ago, we would be surprised to find her outgoing and relaxed now. Managers seem to have a strong belief in the power of traits to predict behavior. If managers believed that situations determined behavior, they would hire people almost at random and structure the situation properly. But the employee selection process in most organizations places a great deal of emphasis on how applicants perform in interviews and on tests.Assume you’re an interviewer and ask yourself: What am I looking for in job candidates? If you answered with terms such as conscientious, hardworking, persistent, confident, and dependable, you’re a trait theorist. Counterpoint Few people would dispute that there are some stable individual attributes that affect reactions to the workplace. But trait theorists go beyond that generality and argue that individual behavior consistencies are widespread and account for much of the differences in behavior among people.There are two important problems with using traits to explain a large proportion of behavior in organizations. First, organizational settings are strong situations that have a large impact on employee behavior. Second, individuals are highly adaptive, and personality traits change in response to organizational situations. It has been well known for some time that the effects of traits are likely to be strongest in relatively weak situations and weakest in relatively strong situations.Organizational settings tend to be strong situations because they have rules and other formal regulations that define acceptable behavior and punish deviant behavior, and they have informal norms that dictate appropriate behaviors. These formal and informal constraints minimize the effects of personality traits. POINT/COUNTERPOINT (Continued) By arguing that employees possess stable traits that lead to cross-situational consiste ncies in behaviors, trait theorists are implying that individuals don’t really adapt to different situations.But there is a growing body of evidence that an individual’s traits are changed by the organizations that individual participates in. If the individual’s personality changes as a result of exposure to organizational settings, in what sense can that individual be said to have traits that persistently and consistently affect his or her reactions to those very settings? Moreover, people typically belong to multiple organizations that often include very different kinds of members. And they adapt to those different situations.Instead of being the prisoners of a rigid and stable personality framework, as trait theorists propose, people regularly adjust their behavior to reflect the requirements of various situations. Class Exercise 1. Divide the class into two groups—one group to take on the issues raised in Point, the other group to take on the issues r aised in Counterpoint. You may want to divide each half into smaller groups to enable all class members to participate in the group’s discussions. 2. Ask the class to act as an organization’s management team.Their job is make a recommendation as to what types of testing they will use in their organization when selecting employees for hire or promotion using the issues assigned by the Point/Counterpoint arguments. Which types of testing will be used and why? (You may want to give students time to do some research—either Internet or Library—on this topic. There are several exercises in the Exploring OB Topics on the World Wide Web section at the end of this chapter. ) 3. Have students present their recommendations to the class and make a decision as to what is the best argument for testing, type of test, etc.What gains do they expect as a result of the testing? 4. Have them list the recommendations and benefits on the board for the class to evaluate during the discussion. 5. You may want them to research the cost of implementing these tests in an organization. Does testing cost of testing offset the benefits? Questions for Review 1. What is personality? How do we typically measure it? What factors determine personality? Answer: Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others, the measurable traits a person exhibits. It is typically measured using self-reporting surveys.Observer-ratings surveys that provide an independent assessment of personality is often better predictors. Personality seems to be the result of both hereditary and environmental factors. Heredity refers to factors determined at conception: physical stature, facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition and reflexes, energy level, and bio-rhythms 2. What is the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), and what does it measure? Answer: The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), is the most widely used instrument in th e world to determine personality attributes.Participants are classified on four axes to determine one of 16 possible personality types. It measures – extroverted/introverted; sensing/intuitive; thinking/feeling; and judging/perceiving attributes. 3. What are the Big Five personality traits? Answer: Extroversion – Sociable, gregarious, and assertive Agreeableness – Good-natured, cooperative and trusting Conscientiousness – responsible, dependable and organized Emotional Stability – calm, self-confident versus negative and depressed Openness to experience – Curious, imaginative 4. How do the Big Five traits predict work behavior?Answer: Certain traits have been shown to strongly relate to higher job performance: For example, highly conscientious people develop more job knowledge, exert greater effort, and have better performance. Other Big Five Traits also have implications for work. Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction. Extrover ts tend to be happier in their jobs and have good social skills. Open people are more creative and can be good leaders. Agreeable people are good in social settings. 5. Besides the Big Five, what other personality traits are relevant to OB?Answer: Core Self-Evaluation – The degree to which people like or dislike themselves – Positive self-evaluation leads to higher job performance Machiavellianism – A pragmatic, emotionally distant power-player who believes that ends justify the means. High Machs are manipulative, win more often, and persuade more than they are persuaded. They flourish when they have direct interaction, and work with minimal rules and regulations Narcissism – depicted by an arrogant, entitled, self-important person who needs excessive admiration.Predictably, they are less effective in their jobs. Self-monitoring, the ability to adjust behavior and risk-taking, the ability to take chances are traits that are also relevant to OB. 6. What ar e values, why are they important, and what is the difference between terminal and instrumental values? Answer: Values are basic convictions on how to conduct yourself or how to live your life that is personally or socially preferable – â€Å"How To† live life properly.They are important because they provide understanding of the attitudes, motivation, and behavior, they influence our perception of the world around us, they represent interpretations of â€Å"right† and â€Å"wrong† and they Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are preferred over others. The difference between terminal and instrumental values is as follows: Terminal Values are desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person would like to achieve during his or her lifetime.Instrumental Values are preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s terminal values. 7. Do values differ across generations? How so? Answer: Yes, values differ considerably across generations . Dominant work values for Veterans entering the workforce in the 19502 or early 1960s are hard-working, conservative, conformity and loyalty to the organization. In contrast, the Nexters in the workforce from 2000 to the present are confident, value financial success are self-reliant and loyal to both self and relationships. 8. Do values differ across cultures?How so? Answer: Yes. According to Hofstede and the GLOBE Project, there are a number of values that differ across cultures: Hofstede’s Framework for assessing culture includes five value dimensions: †¢ Power Distance †¢ Individualism vs. Collectivism †¢ Masculinity vs. Femininity †¢ Uncertainty Avoidance †¢ Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation When these variables are measured, countries vary considerably such as the U. S. ranking #1 in individualism while Colombia ranks 49th. Experiential Exercise WHAT ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE DO YOU PREFER?THE ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE PROFILE (OCP) CAN HELP ASSES S WHETHER AN INDIVIDUAL’S VALUES MATCH THE ORGANIZATION’S. THE OCP HELPS INDIVIDUALS SORT THEIR CHARACTERISTICS IN TERMS OF IMPORTANCE, WHICH INDICATES WHAT A PERSON VALUES. 1. Working on your own, complete the OCP below. 2. Your instructor may ask you the following questions individually or as group of three or four students (with a spokesperson appointed to speak to the class for each group): a. What were your most preferred and least preferred values? Do you think your most preferred and least preferred values are similar to those of other class or group members? . Do you think there are generational differences in the most preferred and least preferred values? c. Research has shown that individuals tend to be happier, and perform better, when their OCP values match those of their employer. How important do you think a â€Å"values match† is when you’re deciding where you want to work? Ethical Dilemma Hiring Based on Body Art Leonardo’s Pizza in Gainesville, Florida, regularly employs heavily tattooed workers. Tina Taladge and Meghan Dean, for example, are covered from their shoulders to their ankles in colorful tattoos.So many of the employees at Leonardo’s sport tattoos that body art could almost be a qualification for the job. Many employers, however, are not that open to tattoos. Consider Russell Parrish, 29, who lives near Orlando, Florida, and has dozens of tattoos on his arms, hands, torso, and neck. In searching for a job, Parrish walked into 100 businesses, and in 60 cases, he was refused an application. â€Å"I want a career,† Parrish says, â€Å"I want same the shot as everybody else. † Parrish isn’t alone. Many employers, including Walt Disney World, GEICO, SeaWorld, the U. S.Postal Service, and Wal-Mart, have policies against visible tattoos. A survey of employers revealed that 58 percent indicated that they would be less likely to hire someone with visible tattoos or body piercings . â€Å"Perception is everything when it comes to getting a job,† says Elaine Stover, associate director of career services at Arizona State University. â€Å"Some employers and clients could perceive body art negatively. † However, other employers—such as Bank of America, Allstate, and IBM—allow tattoos. Bank of America goes so far as to have a policy against using tattoos as a factor in hiring decisions.Policies toward tattoos vary because, legally, employers can do as they wish. As long as the rule is applied equally to everyone (it would not be permissible to allow tattoos on men but not on women, for example), policies against tattoos are perfectly legal. Though not hiring people with tattoos is discrimination, â€Å"it's legal discrimination,† said Gary Wilson, a Florida employment lawyer. Thirty-six percent of those aged 18 to 25, and 40 percent of those aged 26 to 40, have at least one tattoo, whereas only 15 percent of those over 40 do, ac cording to a fall 2006 survey by the Pew Research Center.One study in American Demographics suggested that 57 percent of senior citizens viewed visible tattoos as â€Å"freakish. † Clint Womack, like most other people with multiple tattoos, realizes there's a line that is dangerous to cross. While the 33-year-old hospital worker’s arms, legs, and much of his torso are covered with tattoos, his hands, neck, and face are clear. â€Å"Tattoos are a choice you make,† he says, â€Å"and you have to live with your choices. † Questions 1. Why do some employers ban tattoos while others don’t mind them?Answer:Tattoos or body art is a choice for individuals and a choice for organizations as to whether they are acceptable or not. 2. Is it fair for employers to reject applicants who have tattoos? Is it fair to require employees, if hired, to conceal their tattoos? Answer: Yes to both questions. Fairness is determined by and based on the policies of the organiz ation. As long as they are applied consistently, the organization has the right to determine whether or not tattoos, visible or otherwise are allowed. To avoid any discriminatory issues, whatever policy is in place must be administered fairly. . Should it be illegal to allow tattoos to be a factor at all in the hiring process? Answer: No. Many factors contribute to the hiring process including appearance. An organization has the right to determine the image of their respective company. Just as an organization establishes its culture, the employees reflect the reputation of the company. Legislation on tattoos would impair the organizations’ right to choose their own employees. Sources: R. R. Hastings, â€Å"Survey: The Demographics of Tattoos and Piercings,† HRWeek, February 2007, www. shrm. org; and H.Wessel, â€Å"Taboo of Tattoos in the Workplace,† Orlando (Florida) Sentinel, May 28, 2007, www. tmcnet. com/usubmit/2007/05/28/2666555. htm> Case Incident 1 THE R ISE OF THE NICE CEO? If asked to describe the traits of an effective CEO, most people would probably use adjectives such as driven, competitive, and tough. While it’s clear that some hard-nosed CEOs, like Blackstone chief executive Stephen Schwarzman (see the chapter opener), are successful, recently some authors have suggested that being â€Å"nice† is really important in today’s workplace, even in the CEO suite.In a recent book titled The No A–hole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't, Stanford management professor Robert Sutton argues that getting along well with others is important to the successful functioning of organizations. Many companies, such as Google, have developed policies to weed out those who habitually behave in an uncivil manner. Lars Dalgaard, CEO of SuccessFactors, a business software company, identifies himself as a recovering Fortune 500 â€Å"a–hole. † Now, Dalgaard has implemented a stric t â€Å"no a–hole† rule in his company.Job interviews are lengthy and feature probing questions designed to uncover any browbeating tendencies. Last year, Dalgaard took candidates vying for a chief financial officer vacancy to lunch at a local restaurant to see how they treated the wait staff. Some got a free lunch but nothing more. When managers and employees are hired, they get a welcome letter from Dalgaard that spells out 15 corporate values, the last of which is â€Å"I will not be an a–hole. † Although it’s not clear whether they’ve read Sutton’s book, some CEOs of Fortune 500 companies do seem to project the image of a â€Å"kinder, gentler CEO. Let’s consider three examples, all of whom were proteges of Jack Welch when he was CEO of General Electric (GE) and of whom were candidates to be his successor: Bob Nardelli, James McNerney, and Jeff Immelt. Bob Nardelli, former CEO, Home Depot. When Bob Nardelli wasn’t c hosen to be CEO of GE, he demanded to know why. Didn’t he have the best numbers? His bitterness was palpable, say GE insiders. When Nardelli became CEO of Home Depot, in his first few months on the job, he became notorious for his imperious manner and explosive temper.At one meeting, he yelled, â€Å"You guys don’t know how to run a f—ing business. † When Nardelli was fired as CEO in 2006, it was due to a combination of factors, including Home Depot’s lackluster stock price, but his abrasive personality played no small part. BusinessWeek wrote: â€Å"With the stock price recently stuck at just over 40, roughly the same as when Nardelli arrived 6 years ago, he could no longer rely on other sterile metrics to assuage the quivering anger his arrogance provoked within every one of his key constituencies: employees, customers, and shareholders. † James McNerney, CEO, Boeing. These are heady days at Boeing, which commands record levels of new orde rs and dominates its European rival Airbus as never before. Most CEOs would take credit for this success. Not James McNerney, who gives the credit to Boeing’s engineers and employees. â€Å"I view myself as a value-added facilitator here more than as someone who's crashing through the waves on the bridge of a frigate,† he says. A former GE colleague compared Nardelli and McNerney, saying, â€Å"Jim’s problems have been as tough, or tougher, than the ones that Bob had to face. But he has tried to solve them in a much more pleasant way.The guy is loved over there at Boeing. † Jeff Immelt, CEO, General Electric. – Although Jeff Immelt is the first to point out that the nickname â€Å"Neutron Jack† for his predecessor Jack Welch was misleading, and that the differences between him and Welch are not as dramatic as some claim, Immelt is noted for his calm demeanor and trusting approach. In speaking of his approach, he said, â€Å"I want to believ e the best in terms of what people can do. And if you want to make a growth culture, you've got to have a way to nurture people and not make them fight so goddamn hard to get any idea through the door. †Questions 1. Do you think Sutton is wrong and that the contrasting fortunes, and personalities, of Nardelli, McNerney, and Immelt are coincidental? Why or why not? Answer: No, Sutton is correct. Interpersonal skills and the ability to develop relationships with people is increasingly more important in today’s economy. The hard line, command and control style of management is no longer as effective as maybe it once was. Nardelli was fired undoubtedly because of the stock price but also because of his abrasive personality. 2. Do you think the importance of being â€Å"nice† varies by industry or type of job?How so? Answer: No, the importance of being nice is based on personality and philosophy. Treating people with respect and trust is universal across industries an d jobs. â€Å"Nice â€Å" also does not mean that the person is a welcome mat, but rather the person has a belief in the golden rule of treating people appropriately and the results will follow. 3. How comfortable would you be working in a culture like that of SuccessFactors, where a certain level of â€Å"niceness† is part of the job description? Answer: This may vary by student, but companies should have core values by which all employees should abide.Teamwork and building relationships are paramount in successful companies so proper treatment of others should be a given. 4. Do you think being â€Å"nice† is the same as the Big Five trait of agreeableness? If so, do you think companies should screen out those who score low on agreeableness? Answer: Agreeableness can be compliant and conforming. Companies also need free and innovative thinkers. This factor in terms of performance is important when applied to lower levels of deviant behavior. Nice may be defined as a greeable but you can be nice and still disagree in a polite and respectful way.Companies should pay attention to this trait although it should not solely be used as a screening mechanism. 5. Earlier we discussed the

ICT Strategy Essay Example

ICT Strategy Essay Example ICT Strategy Essay ICT Strategy Essay Abstract Information technology has indeed established itself as a significant component of business over the past two decades which provided one of the most functional competitive advantages. This is due to the fact of the vast utilities it offers and thus becomes available anywhere around the world. However, Nicholas Carr suggested that as information technology has grown in power and ubiquity, its competitive advantages have lost and thus it doesnt matter anymore. In this paper, it is argued that IT does indeed matter due to its wide use and necessity in contrast to Cars view. Also, it is further urge that competitive advantage has always been temporal in technological innovations and this is explained with the view of IT as multiple technologies and as a single type of technology which points out obsolete technology like IT still exists with competitive advantage and matters. Lastly, the discussion reveals that the degree of innovativeness in the IT realm is so far greater than other classification of technologies that we could not make an assumption whether or not IT will be less of a competitive advantage in the years to come. The next discussions ill be focusing on the analysis of these ideas as expressed by Nicholas Carr, and will be applied to analyzing further certain projects in a given company scenario. Introduction IT is the latest series of broadly adopted technologies, after the railroad. Due to their usefulnesss, the commonalities between the two are primarily observed in the manner that people have invested in them. A deeper look at these types of commodities will reveal that the pattern by which the similarity is competitive advantages, making us able to argue that they have the same level of supply, demand ND necessity in the market. Gradually, many companies will try to possess the same technology and provision of the same service which will eventually lead to the decline of the prices that can be offered since everybody already has it. This way, the investment made for the possession of that technology becomes a question of whether or not in truly IT provides a significant return on investment since it is now hard to Justify that the revenue company earned was in fact due to IT function, or that it has rather only become a necessity due to its pervasive use. In other word, has IT got competitive advantage or does it matter? (Carr, 2003) Cars Article Cars articles centers on the fact that to some extent, certain technologies such as IT has become less of a competitive advantage, making it a not what it had seemed when it came out as a new product. The eventual wide spread of the technology soon led to the possession of it by everyone, making the perception of its competitive advantage an obsolete thing. There are many fundamental issues in this argument which we will be tackling in the following discussions. . The widespread of technology may entail necessity. Although it is true that trains and railroads have now ceased to become a competitive advantage as compared to when it was first utilized several decades ago, this can be attributed to many factors. The functionality that is derived from trains has been already established as a useful and necessary component of businesses, especially businesses may range from those that provide shipping services of different cargo materials that needed to be transported from one place to another or the remonstration of people as done in major subways around cities as it provides a cheaper cost of transportation compared to using automobile vehicles. Thereby, we can argue that train ceased to become a competitive advantage truly because it has become so common place and thus cheaper. However, what we point out here is that the widespread nature of any technologies does not say anything about whether it matters or not. It only tells us that it has become popular, thus increasing demand because of its proven usefulness, and that points towards the argument that it does ended matter, since people now see it as a necessity that cannot be ignored since it has become so integrated with the lifestyle of human being that to ignore the necessary functions it provides is Just going to bring even more disadvantage. What Carr has only argued is that competitive advantage has diminished, but this should not in any ways lead to the conclusion that one should cease to invest in IT because the issue is not that IT has become obsolete, and therefore has lost its competitive advantage, but because it has become too necessary, that it has lost its competitive advantage. 2. Competitive advantage has always been temporal in technological innovations It is important to point out that, technology especially at the rate that it progresses today, is always an issue of determining how long it will provide competitive advantage since there is always a chance that newer and better technologies that may render that technology obsolete . This is not a new thing, and as a result, certain technologies are set aside when they have become less useful. The IT field, however is a large classification of many technologies that within homeless compete against each other. Better systems are adopted against others for their efficiency, user friendliness, and lower cost. In theory, if we view IT as multiple technologies, there are always competitive advantages in which faster and newer systems are more competitive than obsolete technologies (Millard and Porter, 1985). However, if we view IT as a whole, competitive advantage is dwindling due to ubiquity. This should not always lead to the conclusion that IT no longer matters because it is not an obsolete technology, and the answer lies in our previous argument: IT as a whole has proven to be so useful that it has become so commonplace and necessary (Meant, 2007) 3. The innovativeness in the IT realm is massive Unlike the railroad, the possibilities in the IT industry are infinite. The areas of application for an IT staff may range from creating applications for word processing, designing performance management systems for companies to implement on their operations, accounting software may be useful for accounting departments, internet utilities such as Google Docs, Google Drive, file conversion tools, social media and any other thousands of other uses. What we argue here is that the degree of usability in IT field is so huge that it has not yet fully explored to assume that it will be less competitive in the future. While Carr has successfully showed data to support his argument, it is yet early to dismiss it Project analysis The initial observations of the proposals to close down the information service department are the following: outsourcing puts the company at higher risk of losing the current information service team rather than outsourcing. 1. Project management yester The purpose of a custom developed management system is to produce a system that is fitted to the perceived needs of a particular project based on the nature of the business. Adopting an outsourced project management system may include functionalities that are not required, and hence entails cost on the company for additional IT features. What should the company do here is to re-design the project management system to add features that the company prefers to have, such as due date and resource tracker. 2. Marketing analysis system It is similar to saying that electricity has ceased to matter Just because it is now widely used. Actually, electricity has been less of a competitive advantage because no corporation nowadays can function without it. And the same argument can be made for IT. IT is slowly becoming electricity, something that organizations will always need because of its proven necessity. IT may be decreasing in its capability to provide competitive advantage, but it is certainly something, like electricity, that inevitably matters. Broader, G. (2012, 1, 19).