In this post we'll study some key elements that are useful and necessary to understand individual’s behavior which is influenced by interactions, situations and their influence, and the personal differences. Personality are the characteristics of each individual, characteristics the will influence his or her behavior depending on different situations they can go through. These characteristics are shaped since early years and are determined by heredity and the environment, in other words, by the family and the society respectively. There are several theories that have treated this topic, among them we can find Gordon Allport's Trait Theory which states that personality is formed by 5 traits: Extraversion (Sociable vs. Reserved), Agreeableness (Warm vs. Antagonistic), Conscientiousness (Harworking vs. Unreliable), Emotional Stability (Calm vs. Insecure) and Openness To Experience (Creative vs. Narrow Interests). Sigmund Freud emphasizes the unconsciousness and how this shapes individuals behavior by means of his Psychodynamic Theory. According to Freud, human psyche is like an iceberg composed by the conscious (the visible part), the preconscious (not so evident) and the unconscious (the bottom of the iceberg). Humanistic theory, created by Carl Rogers, states the human needs for self-actualization and for positive regard are achieved by means of the motivations and the response. Thus, the most influential personality characteristics in the core-self evaluation are: (1) Locus of control which is the ability to control what happens to oneself, (2) self-esteem, the way how we see and feel ourselves, (3) self-efficacy which is the perception about the personal capabilities to achieve a goal, (4) self-monitoring which is how individuals are guided according to the situation and (5) positive/negative affect.
Perception is when individuals receive information through the senses, they interpret it and make a personal view of the world and themselves. However, personal perceptions is defined not only by the perceiver own elements like familiriarity, attitudes, mood, self-concept and knowledge; but also by the target (physical appearance, verbal and non verbal communication and intentions) and by the barriers (stereotypes, errors and judgements). In organizations, perception has some key principles which are:
- Selective perception, which supports the perceiver's point of view.
- Stereotypes.
- First-impression error, which shapes opinions based on first experiences.
- Projection or how we estimate those with the same beliefs.
- Self-fullfiling prophecy.
- Impression management.
Attitudes are favorable and unfavorable feelings we experience regarding to different situations and that are linked to the personal behavior. According to the ABC model, attitudes have 3 main components: the affect (feelings, psychological signs and verbal statements), behavioral intentions (the way how individual behaves and the verbal statements about his or her intentions) and cognition (beliefs and attitudes). These attitudes are formed by the direct experience and the social learning carried out through a process which consists in (1) attention, (2) retention, (3) reproduction of that behavior and (4) the motivation to learn it.
On the other hand, behavior is influenced by specificity, relevance (interest topics), timing of measurement, personality and social constraints (what is acceptable and non-acceptable in social terms). At work inside organizations, there are other two elements that have to do with attitudes like the job satisfaction and the organizational commitment, which is understood as how we feel indentified with the organization.
Values are beliefs about attitudes generally accepted. Values may be divided into two categories: instrumental values, it means, values well considered to achieve goals (e.g honesty); and terminal values, which are the goals to be achieved (e.g love).
Please explain, using your own words, the concept of Pygmalion Effect.
What are the potential implications, uses or challenges that this effect may pose for organizations engaging into international operations that require the understanding of diversecultural contexts? Can you use this concept to explain the relationship between national and organizational cultures?
Pygmalion effect describes how the target performance is influenced by one’s expectations and perceptions. These two elements are directly affected by previous experiences, the personality and external situations that come from the environment and its conditions. Challenges for organizations that look for internationalization strategies have to do mainly with the fact they have to deal with people with different cultural backgrounds and whose values are different so their perceptions and expectations about certain situations may differ a lot affecting company’s performance in a positive or negative way.
The manager’s influence and motivations toward the employees can help in shaping positive perceptions; nevertheless it doesn’t mean this is going to avoid negative attitudes by workers since previous experience also have a remarkable pressure on them as well as on the manager. That’s the reason why organizations must find the most suitable way to encourage its employees according to the conditions and the ways they are used to and take advantage of this to figure out a point where different cultures may complement each other inside the organization. When it comes to encouragement, managers should find a balance between the motivational one and the aggressive one pressuring in order to achieve goals since all backgrounds have different ways to carry out tasks, however, it must be taken into account that there is an uncontrollable environment which could affect the group, even if it has de idea of working as a strong teamwork.
This concept is very useful to explain the relationship between organizational and national culture since several people from different backgrounds and cultures have to be aligned and agree to match up their expectations and goals inside the same company. The understanding of differences and alternatives to deal with them are essential to improve organization’s performance and to avoid future problems. In other words, the companies will not only shape a better relationship between workers and managers, but also will understand outer markets better so they do not make mistakes that will cost in terms of money.
At this point it would be very useful for organizations to consider some cultural studies like Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions, especially those that have to do with power distance, individualism and collectivism, and masculinity and feminity. Why? When it comes to work environment, wherever it takes place, relations between superiors and their subordinates will determine perceptions and expectations, and if one company belongs to a culture where power distance is high, when internationalizing and moving overseas it will probably face a context where relations inside organizations are quite different so it will be forced to change its mind and start planning about how adapting to new workers instead of pretending to shape or influence cultural impressions. It’s the same with the other elements, people who are used to working in a individual culture will perceive and expect different to those who work collectively and whose opinions are determined by the group. Finally, whether workers belong to a masculine or feminist culture, it will give the company a general impression about how employees will manage to face challenges and achieve goals so their perceptions and expectations will diverge.
