PERSONALITY, PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTION, CONSIDERING ATTITUDES AND VALUES

In an international context, perception is influenced by the cross-cultural work environment, in which working together can become more difficult (Analoui, 1998; Analoui and karami, 2002). Different perceptions may create conflicts, affecting work relationships (Hoftede, 1991), and individual differences may arise, in which factors such as skills, abilities, personalities, perceptions, attitudes, values, and ethics differ from one individual to another.

Personality is a set of characteristics that influences someone´s behavior and can be described by the "Big Five" factors. The Integrative approach, describes personality as a combination of individual’s psychological processes, including emotions, cognitions, and attitudes.

Social Perception is the process of interpreting information about another person, in which our perception can be influenced. It’s important to eliminate barriers like selective perception, stereotyping and first-impression error, in order to have a good work relationship.

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Impression management uses techniques such as: Name-dropping, Managing one’s appearance, Self-descriptions, Flattery, favors, agreement and Social identity-based. The Attribution Theory, explains how individuals identify the causes of their own behavior and others, with internal and external attributions. Taking care of the attribution Biases like, fundamental Attribution Error and self-Serving Bias.

Attitude is a “psychological tendency expressed by evaluating an entity with some degree of favor or disfavor” (Harrison, D.A., Newman, D.A., Roth, P.L. 2006), in which the ABC model (affect, behavior and cognition) emphasizes the interrelationship among knowing, feeling and doing. When an individual experiences conflict between attitudes and behavior, is called, cognitive Dissonance.

Employees may have work attitudes like Job Satisfaction and organizational Commitment. Values have to be considered in an organizational environment, like the achievements, concern for others, honesty and fairness.

In conclusion, in order to have a positive work environment, both managers and employees, should take into account people´s personality, perception, attribution, attitudes and values.

TO WHAT DO YOU ATTRIBUTE THE SUCCESS OF JICA?

JICA is “an independent administrative institution that aims to contribute to international cooperation as well as the sound development of Japanese and global economy”.(JICA OGANIZATION).

The success of JICA is based on the people that work for the institution. Although they are volunteers, they have to approve psychological, physical and technical tests in order to get in. After the process you will be finally sent to other country in order to start helping, so it is very important that people really want to do it.

When Yasuko started to talk about her experiences in Colombia, you could perceive that she undermined some individual differences that she and the people in Colombia may have.
When people from two different cultures are working together, is not easy to achieve a profitable work-relationship, because of different attitudes, values and ethics.

When she arrived to the Colombian school she was going to work for, the teachers thought that she was an exchange student and not the person that JICA had sent. That’s because we have different perceptions. When she started to work, she could detect different skills, methods and abilities between teachers and herself in order to work with the children, but she took that, and started to work on it, preparing Workshops and exercises.

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She told us that usually, people who is more outgoing and sociable was sent to Latin America. So JICA classifies its volunteers according to their personality traits, so they can be more compatible to the lifestyle of the country they are going to send the volunteer. At first, she requested for Africa, but when the letter of JICA arrived she was surprised because it said Colombia, she confessed to us that she was really scared, as well as her parents.

The success is also based on the elimination of social perception barriers, in which stereotypes and first impression errors must be forgotten. If Yasuko would have kept with the impression she had of Colombia, which is drug trafficking, arms, violence and war, she would have never came here. In stead, she decided to see the bright side and have new experiences. She started to search about positive information online, where she actually found lots of good things.

You could perceive that she was satisfied with her job; she really enjoyed what she was doing. She had a strong organizational commitment, and she really felt identified with the organization. She had an affective commitment with the organization, in which she had the intention to remain in JICA because she had a strong desire to do so. She told us that when she would end her assigned period in Colombia, she was going to Africa, and she was so exited.

She had work values, in which she had traced some goals and was determined to achieve them. She concerned about her co-workers and her students, you could say she was honest and fair.

Bibliography

• "JICA | About JICA | Organization." JICA-国際協力機構. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.jica.go.jp/english/about/organization/index.html>.
• Harrison, D.A., Newman, D.A., Roth, P.L. 2006.  How important are job attitudes?
• Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. OrganizationalBehavior: Science, TheRealWorld andYou. South-West
• Image "shaking hands" retrieved from:http://pequebebes.com/wp-content/2010/06/interracial_educacion.jpg
• Image JICA-Africa, retrieved from: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2203/2171264755_dc9d95c435.jpg

ETHICAL DECISION-MAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS

Decisions that managers make are either programmed (established decision rules) or non-programmed (creative solutions).  The decision making process is a step-by-step approach that can be used for all types of problems.

One of the difficulties with innovative decisions is that they also tend to be risky.  Unfortunately, many managers tend to be risk averse.  Risk aversion is "the tendency to choose options that has fewer risks and less uncertainty"Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. (2010). This tendency can cause managers to avoid risky decisions that may produce new ideas and high benefits.


Decision-making can be strengthened individually and in-group situations.  Groups can use techniques such as brainstorming, nominal group technique, Delphi technique, devil's advocacy, and dialectical inquiry.  Models of decision-making vary from very rational (the rational model) to non-rational (the garbage can model).  Intuition and creativity can be developed and improved to aid decision makers.

"Types of Decision Making - Life123." Articles and Answers about Life - Life123. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. http://www.life123.com/health/self-improvement/decision-making/types-of-decision-making.shtml.

  

Once individuals make decisions, they tend to become committed to those decisions.  Escalation of commitment is the tendency to continue to commit resources to a failing course of action, and it may occur because of personal pride, optimism, humans dislike inconsistency, sunk costs, and some cultural differences may arise.

Managers should consider in the organization questions like: is it legal? Is it balanced? How will it make me feel about myself? 

Ethical decision-making is very important towards the organization, considering social responsibility and morals. In which ethical behavior is “Acting consistent with one’s personal values and the commonly held values of the organization and society” Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. (2010) and it is influenced by organizational and individual influences.

For example, EMP is a Colombian company which has corporate social responsibility. They have lots of projects in order to embrace responsibility for the company's actions, and encourage a positive impact through its activities on the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. 

"YouTube - EPM RSE Responsabilidad Social Empresarial." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5b3SDcKHW0>.

HOW CAN ORGANIZATIONS EFFECTIVELY MANAGE BOTH RISK TAKING AND ESCALATION OF COMMITMENT IN THE DECISION- MAKING BEHAVIOR OF EMPLOYEES?

One of the difficulties with decisions that are innovative is that they also tend to be risky.  Unfortunately, many managers tend to be risk averse. This tendency can cause managers to avoid risky decisions that may produce new ideas and potentially high benefits. However, companies need risk management to analyze possible risks in order to balance potential gains against potential losses and avoid expensive mistakes.

"Risk, Challenge, & Safety in Outdoor & Adventure Education & Recreation." Wilderdom - a Project in Natural Living & Transformation. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. http://wilderdom.com/Risk.html.

Managing risk-taking behavior can be successful trough creating an effective decision-making under uncertainty. In this case, it will allow employees to fail without fear of punishment, which may reduce creativity and innovation.

Once individuals make decisions, they tend to become committed to those decisions.  Escalation of commitment is the tendency to continue to commit resources to a failing course of action. It may occur because of personal pride, optimism, humans dislike inconsistency and sunk costs. In that case, managers could split responsibility for decisions, provide individuals with a graceful exit or have groups make the initial decision.

Bibliography

•  "YouTube - EPM RSE Responsabilidad Social Empresarial." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5b3SDcKHW0>.
• Mintzberg, H. & Westley, F. (2001, Spring). Decision making: It’s not what you think. MIT Sloan Management Review, 42(3), 89 –93.
• Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. (2010) Organizational Behavior: Science,TheReal World and You. South-Western CollegePublication, 7th. Ed.
•  "Risk, Challenge, & Safety in Outdoor & Adventure Education & Recreation." Wilderdom - a Project in Natural Living & Transformation. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. http://wilderdom.com/Risk.html
• Wong, K. F. E., & Kwong, J. Y. Y. (2007). The role of anticipated regret in escalation of commitment. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92,545–554.
• "Types of Decision Making - Life123." Articles and Answers about Life - Life123. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. http://www.life123.com/health/self-improvement/decision-making/types-of-decision-making.shtml.

ORGANIZATIONAL MOTIVATION

Motivation is one of the main factors that determine employees´ work performance. It covers all the reasons for which a person chooses to act in a certain way. Motivation are “Internal and external factors that stimulate Desire and energy in people to be continually interested in and committed to a job, role, or subject, and to exert persistent effort in attaining a goal”. (Business Dictionary, 2010)

Early economic theories of motivation emphasized extrinsic incentives as the basis for motivation.

There are three kinds of Motivation Theories:

Internal theories consider variables within the individual. For example, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory of motivation, which was the basis for Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y assumptions about people at work.

The process theories emphasize the nature of the interaction between the individual and the environment. For example, The Expectancy theory, which says that effort, is the basis for motivation for leading performance and rewards.

"Motivation." Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/16/1602/UD2FD00Z/posters/motivation.jpg>.

The External theories are focused on the elements in the environment. For example, the two-factor theory explains that the presence of motivation leads to job satisfaction, and the presence of hygiene factors prevented it.

According to McClelland, the needs for achievement, power, and affiliation are learned needs that differ among diverse cultures, and Social exchange theory holds that, people form calculated working relationships and expect fair, equitable, ethical treatment.

In conclusion, theories that explain motivation are culturally bound, and the drivers in order to motivate may change among nations.

IN MULTICULTURAL ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT WHAT COULD BE A GOOD STRATEGY TO KEEP PEOPLE MOTIVATED TOWARDS A COMMON TASK?

According to the European employee index model, the employee’s motivation, their job satisfaction and sense of loyalty, is the result of a large number of factors directly related to the employee’s perception of job and the work environment. These factors are in seven dimensions, in which the company and the individual manager can pull in order to improve motivation. The drivers are: reputation, senior Management, immediate superior, co-operation, daily work, total remuneration and development.

The last study conducted in 2008, shows no change in two countries that have the highest motivation and satisfaction: Denmark and India. 

For every country, a different driver was found to be the most important, definitely influenced by its cultural features. Senior Management is especially important for employees in Ireland, the US and Japan. 

Immediate superior is important in the UK and Japan, while cooperation means a lot for the employees in Netherlands. In check republic and Russia remuneration plays the most important role. No matter the country, the development of human resources and the daily activity are very important factors for increasing employee’s satisfaction. 

"YouTube - Wal-Mart Cheer." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBC4ox9GeY&feature=related>.

For example, WAL-MART has a motivational cheer that the employees do daily. “Don't be surprised if you hear our associates shouting this enthusiastically at your local Walmart store. We take it seriously — it's one way we show pride in our company and how much we value our customers.

Our founder Sam Walton wrote the cheer: He saw workers at a Korean tennis ball factory join together each morning for a company cheer and calisthenics. He liked the idea so much that he couldn't wait to get back home and try it at Walmart.

Mr. Sam believed work can be fun: As he once said, “Just because we work hard, we don't have to go around with long faces. It's sort of a 'whistle while you work' philosophy and we work better because of it."

It’s a worldwide thing: As our company has grown and changed over the years, so has our cheer. Today, you’ll hear the Walmart cheer proudly being delivered by associates around the world with different words, and in many different languages.” (WAL-MART CORP)

Bibliography

•   "Walmartstores.com: Walmart Cheer." Walmartstores.com. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://walmartstores.com/aboutus/320.aspx>
• "YouTube - Wal-Mart Cheer." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiBC4ox9GeY&feature=related>.
• Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. 2010. OrganisationalBehavior Science, the Real World, and You.  South-Western CengageLearning, Mason,USA. Chapter5.
• Viorel, Lefter, ManolescuAurel, Marinas CristianVirgil, and PuiaRamonaStefania. 2009. "Employees Motivation Theories Developed at an International Level”. Annals of the University of Oradea, Economic Science Series18, no. 4:324-328
• Business Dictionary (2010). Definition of motivation. Retrieved on January the5th2011 from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/motivation.html                                        
• "Motivation." Web. 8 Mar. 2011. <http://cache2.allpostersimages.com/p/LRG/16/1602/UD2FD00Z/posters/motivation.jpg>.

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR CONSIDERING NATIONAL AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational Behavior is the study about how people, individuals, and groups act in organizations, interpreting people-organization relationships (Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C.). Its purpose is to build better relationships by achieving human, organizational, and social objectives. It’s important to learn about it because you will learn about yourself, and how to deal with others.

To analyze the context, opportunities, change and challenge should be taken into account, considering influences like sociology, engineering, medicine, management, anthropology and psychology.  To understand human behavior there are internal and external perspectives, and as Kurt Lewin´s equation explains, “behavior is a function of both the person and the environment”.

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In The organizational context there are formal and the informal organizations. In which change can be considered as a threat or an opportunity. The challenges to manage organizational behavior are the increasing globalization, diversity of organizational workforces, technological innovation and demand for higher levels of moral and ethical behavior.

Actually, international managers have to know when culture is important and how much weight should be given to culture against other factors. There are internal and the external factors to take into account. It’s important to analyze culture, because it gives the manager instruments for interpreting and predicting the behavior of the workforce. Culture impacts the efficiency of the organization, affecting the employee morale, commitment, productivity and innovation. National culture is an environmental factor, which characterizes the national group and influences the behavior of its individual members. A strong culture could help an organization adapt to the environment, and diversity has to be taking into account.

WHY IS MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN CHANGING TIMES IS CHALLENGING?

Managing International competition in business may affront change because of globalization, diversity, technology and ethics, and to success, it will require a positive response to the competition in the international marketplace and ethnic, religious, and gender diversity in the workforce.

It is challenging because: first, the increasing globalization of the organizations´ operating territory. Second, the increasing diversity of organizational workforces and finally, the continuing demand for higher levels of moral and ethical behavior at work.

For example, a federal government study found diversity management is strongly linked to both, the workgroup performance and job satisfaction. The issue of women in the workplace concerns workforce diversity and at the same time the globalization issues.

The public demand for ethical behavior in business is growing and the meaning of corporate codes of ethics can no longer be taken for granted, which means that integrating ethical reasoning into work is the only way to maximize business opportunities.

"YouTube - The New American Work Force." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBSfZy9nWo>

Bibliography

• "YouTube - The New American Work Force." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abBSfZy9nWo>
• Nelson, Debra L. and Quick, James Campbell. 2010. Organisational Behavior –Science, the Real World, and You.  South-Western Cengage Learning, Mason, USA. Chapter 1 and 2.
• Cameron, K., & Quinn, R., (1999). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture. New York: Addison-Wesley.
• Mead, Richard. 2004. International Management: Cross-Cultural Dimensions.London: Blackwell Publishing. Chapter 1.
• Nelson, D.L. & Quick, J.C. 2010. Organizational Behavior: Science, The Real World and You. South-Western College Publication, 7th. Ed. Chapter 1.
• Image retrieved from: http://www.cherylgood.com/images/businesspeople3new.jpg

THE CORPORATION

THE CORPORATION is an American documentary made by the controversial Michael Moore. It talks about the corporation as a legal institution, built with the specific purpose of producing money, without caring about the possible damages it can cause. Some years ago, the Corporation was an insignificant term, but today it is everywhere, it has become one of the most powerful institutions, which can be found all over the World. In the documentary, people that are fundamental pieces for those institutions are interviewed, like CEOs, important executives from all kinds of industries and business experts.

http://www.zenhell.com/_v2/pics/LincolnQuoteaboutCorporations1864.jpg

It argues that corporations are considered normal persons, but with an antisocial personality disorder, that can be called, a psychopathic behavior.  It can act as a person, but without moral conscience, in which the only thing that it is interested in, is itself. It is untrustworthy, without any feeling of guilt and has notion of limited liability. Taking capitalism to the extreme, making profit their only goal. It shows that corporations can manipulate the  media and consumers by ignoring human Rights, moral rules and law in general.

It refers to the corporation as an “externalizing machine, in the same way that a shark is a killing machine” ( Robert Monks, 2003. Republican candidate for Senate from Maine and corporate governance adviser in the film "The Corporation")  in which corporations externalize its operating costs to other organizations in order to lower costs, ignoring the bad conditions those organizations may have. It makes us realize that corporations are responsible for diseases, deaths, poverty, violation of human rights like exploitation, and environmental consequences like pollution, just for achieving their most important goal, profit.

The documentary is intended to find explanations and tell the truth about scandals and secrets of the biggest corporations, criticizing its corporate business practices, in order to show real case scenarios that people may ignore.

"YouTube - the Corporation Trailer." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the corporation trailer&aq=f>.

In this documentary, corporations are defined as “legal entities” and they meet the clinical definition of psychopathic behavior. Do you agree, why, or why not?

Corporations are considered as natural living persons, with an antisocial personality disorder or psychopathatic behavior. They are “legal entities”, so they can act as a person, where they can buy and sell, borrow money, sue and be sued. "It has become a member of our society, and it has rights like a normal person" (fragment THE CORP). But the difference between a corporation and a person is that unlike people, corporations doesn’t have moral, and have only one consideration influencing their behavior, profit. 

Retrieved from: http://areyouhappywithobama.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/inauguration-protest-corporations.jpg

It is specially design to take care only for its actionists, considering that the law says corporations should make the economical foundation the most important, and the only thing they care is its short term Benefits.

Corporations have the clinical definition of psychopathic behavior, because it has a extremely anti-social "personality". It has all the elements that describe it: It is self-interested, essentially unethical, heartless and deceitful.
It doesn’t feel guilt and doesn’t show any concerns for the feelings of other people, it cant keep human relationships, it is indifferent about the safety of others, it lies to obtain profit, it doesn’t follow social norms and disrespects the law. In spite all these, it can act as it had human qualities like compassion, sympathy, understanding, consideration and unselfishness.

The documental demonstrates case studies in which corporations are responsible for harming workers, affecting human health, animals, and the environment caused by corporate activity.

I agree, I think that actual corporations have a very specific profit concern, which influences their decision-making, they act according to what amount of money they could gain, without showing any concern for the environment or even the people that works for them. It acts irresponsibly. It’s like a monster of capitalism that has been growing since it creation and its impossible to stop, adopting behaviors of a psychopath. In which “It is not the people that shape the institution’s behavior, but the institution that constrains human behavior” (Film "The corporation" ).




Bibliography

• "YouTube - the Corporation Trailer." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 06 Mar. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the corporation trailer&aq=f>.
• "Abraham Lincoln". Retrieved from:http://www.zenhell.com/_v2/pics/LincolnQuoteaboutCorporations1864.jpg
• "Corporations are people too" Retrieved from: http://areyouhappywithobama.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/inauguration-protest-corporations.jpg