Situations
What is the difference between Weak and Strong situations?
Weak situations are ambiguous. There is no obvious way to behave. Strong situations are concrete. It is expected that you behave in specific ways.
Coco is naturally organized and responsible. Whether she is working on a school project or at her part time job, she always finishes her task early. Which perspectives /approaches to personality do you think best describe Coco’s behavior?
Dispositional perspectives.
Identify what job satisfaction is.
A pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job ot job experience; it represents how a person feels and thinks about their job
This dimension compares cultures that value traits like assertiveness and competition with cultures that value traits like nurturance and cooperation.
Masculinity Vs Femininity
Which approach to organizational behaviour asserts that individual behaviour is a function of both individual traits and external environmental conditions working together?
Interactionist approach
How does the predictive power of personality on behavior differ between Weak and Strong situations?
Personality is more predictive in weak situations because of explicit rules.
A company introduces a new policy to punish employees who are late for work, those who are late for more than 5 minutes will be required to work overtime. After that, everyone even come 5 minutes earlier. Which perspective/approaches to personality best explains this change?
Situational perspectives
Explain the difference between overall and facet job satisfaction. (give an example for each)
Overall: General feeling of the whole job, eg. I love my job
Facet: Different judgments about different aspects of the job, eg. I think my job is enjoyable but hate how much I get paid
This dimension compares cultures that focus on the past and tradition with cultures that focus on the future and innovation.
What is Short vs. Long-Term Orientation?
Name two facets of job satisfaction.
Any two, such as satisfaction with colleagues, boss, work tasks, or pay. Facet satisfaction means you can love some parts of your job while disliking others.
A new employee joins a team where no one explains the team’s expectations or rules. Is this a weak or strong situation? Explain how the situation may influence the employee’s behavior.
This is a weak situation. The employee will have more freedom to decide how to behave, individual personality may have a greater influence.
David is an introverted and responsible person. However, he is elected to be the leader of a student club, he starts speaking up and organizing group discussions. Which perspectives /approaches to personality can be used to explain his change in behavior?
Situational perspectives
What is the formula of job dissatisfaction?
(Vwant - Vhave) * (Vimportance)
Employees at a company get anxious when plans change last minute and want clear written rules for everything. Their culture is likely high on this dimension.
Uncertainty Avoidance
Which approach to personality says behaviour comes from the person and the setting together?
The interactionist approach (Person x Situation → Behaviour). It’s the most widely accepted perspective in OB.
An extroverted person is usually talkative but remains quiet in a particular situation. How can the situational approach explain this?
The situation approach suggests that the environment influences behavior. This should be a strong situation because clear rules constrain his behavior, limits his personality.
Two students receive the same negative feedback from their teacher. One sees it as an opportunity to grow, to work on his weaknesses. While the other becomes discouraged and start giving up on himself. Which perspective/approaches to personality best illustrate this scenario?
Interactionist
Why do people have different satisfaction with the same wages?
Based on the job dissatisfaction, different values of want and importance of the job could be other two factors that affect the satisfaction. Eg. Although people have the same wages, someone may expect to have higher wages, which will cause lower satisfaction than others who are satisfied with the current wages.
Employees at a company care more about the team’s success than their own recognition, and they’re happier when bonuses are shared across the group. This end of a Hofstede dimension describes their culture.
Collectivism
What is the difference between overall job satisfaction and facet satisfaction? Give an example of facet satisfaction.
Overall job satisfaction is a global judgment (“I love my job” or “I give my job a 10 out of 10”). Facet satisfaction is satisfaction with specific parts of the job. Example: “I love my colleagues but hate my boss,” or “I enjoy my work tasks but hate how much I get paid.”
A company wants to encourage employees to express their personalities while maintaining consistent workplace behavior. How can the company use situational strength to achieve this goal?
The company should create a strong situation. However, it should also allow some flexibility so employees can express their personalities. ( choose their own approaches to solve problems, as long as they meet standard)
Two employees are assigned to work independently on a new project with very little instructions. One is naturally creative and enjoys exploring new ideas, while the other prefers clear rules. As a result, the first person performs better. But , when a company reassigns another task with clear instruction, their performance gap becomes much smaller. Which perspective/approaches to personality best explain this patterns?
Internationalist perspective.
How can you improve employee job satisfaction, in which someone is not satisfied with work due to feeling repetitive and boring by implementing Job Crafting.
Redefining job tasks, giving more diverse work, giving employees more space to use their creativity, and stimulating autonomy.
A Canadian manager moves to China and notices staff rarely challenge his decisions. (1) Which dimension explains this? (2) Why shouldn’t she assume every employee there will act this way?
(1) Power Distance (2) Hofstede scores are country-level tendencies, not descriptions of individuals
A manager from a high power distance, collectivist culture joins a team from a low power distance, individualistic culture. Name one likely clash for each dimension.
Power distance: The manager may expect decisions to come from the top, while the team expects to challenge and contribute to decisions.
Individualism vs. collectivism: The manager may prioritize group harmony and loyalty, while the team prioritizes individual goals and recognition.