Managing Behavior
background reading
Required Sources
Values, Attitudes, and Perceptions
Often, we assume that the way we perceive and experience the world is the same way other people do. This assumption is false and can lead to ineffective leader and manager behaviors. Understanding how attitudes and perceptions influence individual behavior and performance at work is important to organizational study. Read how personality, values, perceptions, and attitudes affect work behaviors.
Luthans, F., Luthans, K. W., & Luthans, B. C. (2015). Chapter 5: Personality, perception, and employee attitudes. In Organizational behavior: An evidence-based approach, 13th Ed., (pp. 102-129). Charlotte, North Carolina: Information Age Publishing. Retrieved from the EBSCO database in the Trident Online Library.
Many people believe that a happy worker is a productive worker, but research tells us that people can be highly satisfied with their jobs and still not get much done! Nevertheless, organizations have reasons to care about employees' satisfaction with their jobs.
The following reading is an excellent explanation of the job satisfaction model and why it is important to maintaining a highly productive workforce.
Redmond, B. F. & Bower, C. P. (2015). Job satisfaction. In Work Attitudes and Job Motivation. Retrieved from https://wikispaces.psu.edu/display/PSYCH484/11.+Job+Satisfaction
Motivation and Job Design
With a variety of values, perceptions, and attitudes, people are not motivated by the same things. The following reading summarizes key theories to help you understand what motivates you and those around you. Be sure to watch the 4-minute video at the start of the article.
Motivation and motivation theory (2015). In Reference for Business: Encyclopedia of Business(2nd ed.) Retrieved from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Mar-No/Motivation-and-Motivation-Theory.html
Learn about the importance of job design in creating and maintaining a work environment that employees will find motivating. See the following talk on the Job Characteristics Model of Motivation:
Theories of Motivation: The Job Characteristics Model (2015). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUWsFHQsbh0
Goal Setting
Since the 1960s, management scholars have touted the effectiveness of setting high, but achievable, goals in attaining high levels of performance from employees. The following article reviews goal-setting theory and how to put it into practice.
Chin, D. (n.d.). How to motivate employees using E. A. Locke’s goal-setting theory. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/motivate-employees-using-ea-lockes-goalsetting-theory-24176.html
EPM. (2018, October 23). Locke’s goal setting theory of motivation [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtX_Ueh0j-E
Once we understand the power and potential of goal-setting, it is easy to overdo it. Here is a cautionary tale from the Harvard Business Review:
High goals often improve performance, but they also exacerbate unethical behavior: In one research exercise, the participants given the hardest math problems were 84% likelier to cheat than other participants, on average. The researchers—David T. Welsh, of the University of Washington, and Lisa D. Ordóñez, of the University of Arizona—say that demanding tasks deplete people's self-regulatory resources over time, and that managers should be aware of the negative organizational consequences of consecutive rigorous goals.
Source: Stat Watch (2014). Harvard Business Review, 92(6), 28. Available in the Trident Online Library.