Chapter 1 showed how managers strive to enhance performance behaviors, enhance commitment and engagement, promote citizenship behaviors, and minimize dysfunctional behaviors by their employees.
Chapter 2 identified how various environmental factors-diversity, globalization, technology, ethics, and new employment relationships-all impact organizational behavior. The text now turns to part two with a fundamental question underlying organizational behavior: Why do
individuals do what they do? Chapter 3 identifies and discusses critical individual characteristics that affect people's behaviors in organizations. The discussion of other important individual characteristics is continued in Chapter 4. Core theories and concepts that drive employee motivation are introduced and discussed in Chapter 5. Finally, in Chapter 6 we focus on how managers can implement motivation theories and concepts.
In this chapter we explore some of the key characteristics that differentiate people from one another in organizations. We first introduce the essential nature of individual differences and how people "fit" as individuals in organizations. We then look at personality frameworks that shed considerable light on different personality profiles. Next, we examine other specific personality traits and discuss different types of intelligence. We close this chapter with an examination of different styles for processing information and learning.
Learning Outcomes
After studying this chapter, students should be able to:
1. Explain the nature of individual differences, the concept of fit, and the role of realistic job previews.
2. Define personality and describe general personality frameworks and attributes that affect behavior in organizations.
3. Identify and discuss other important personality traits that affect behavior in organizations.
4. Discuss different kinds of intelligence that affect behavior in organizations.
5. Describe different learning styles that influence how people process information and that affect behavior in organizations.