What role did personality play in the situation at the bank?

Which of the Big Five personality traits most

clearly influence Marian and Dave? Which of the cognitive and motivational aspects of personality
played a role?

“Personality as defined is a stable set of characteristics representing internal properties of an individual,

which are reflected in behavioral tendencies across a variety of situations. “(Organizational Behavior
(3rd ed.), Hoboken, NJ; John Wiley and Sons, Inc., p170) In this organizational behavior moment you
have two people who wanted the same job. One person got the job the other stayed in the same job
they had before. Marian was told by her boss she was hired because she was aggressive. Marian’s boss
also said that Dave was well liked and respected and would have took she job is she turned it down. I
think Marian being told who would have been hired was something she did not need to know as an
outsider and she already formed some opinions about Dave.

I think conscientiousness played a large role in Marian and Dave. This is how an individual focuses on
goals and goes toward them in a certain way. Marian feels capable of doing her job, she is very
organized in the bank loan job, she is reliable to work in the same field and she has a drive to succeed.
She also is focused on getting the job done even if working long hours. Marian also thinks before she
acts out of emotion. Dave on the other hand felt capable of doing Marian’s job and thought he was
organized and because he was well liked that he was also reliable at work. Since Dave is well respected
he must have a drive to succeed or he would not have been in line for advancement. He may however
not think before acting.

I think achievement motivation was the motivational concept that was shown most by Marian. As she is
the boss of this team she had a lot to lose. She seemed to come from a desire to outperform others or
to uphold she legendary aggressive pursuit of business goals. Marian wanted to show that she can and
still is on top of her game even when changing companies. Dave on the other hand might be approval
motivation. He seems to just present himself as socially liked as he is described as well-liked and well
respected. But, he also says to Marian, “Okay, boss lady. Whatever you want is what we’ll do.”
(Organizational Behavior (3rd ed.), Hoboken, NJ; John Wiley and Sons, Inc., p202) Dave does this when
he is finishing a conversation with her. This is not respecting her position as a boss or leader.

Working within the bounds of her personality, what should Marian have done when trouble first
seemed to be brewing? How could she have maintained Dave’s job satisfaction and commitment?

Marian should have just confronted Dave with I know we both wanted this job, but I know they really
respect you and your work here and I look forward to working with you. She needed to win him on her
side so he could have a motivation to keep up the good work. If she is achievement motivation this is a
good goal to get Dave on her side and like to work hard for her and that way she will achieve her end
goal of a better loan department at the bank. I think meeting with each of the department sections she
oversaw. This way she could get a good read on everyone and be more approachable then in a large
meeting room. Also, Dave should have maybe not been so “fake” at his statements of okay boss lady
comments. This came across as he has lost motivation for the job and that he wanted. Dave wanted to
be still liked by his peers and still get good evaluations by doing what ver Marian wanted him to do.
How should Marian proceed now that the situation has become very difficult?

I think Marian should get Dave into the office and have a one on one talk. Did Dave really wink? Well ask
him. Have a frank conversation. Say, I know we both were up for this job. I did not know you before
coming here and I would like to get to know more of your work. I know Vince has talked very highly of
you and your work. I would like to find out your thoughts on how we can do a better job at our loan
sales. Get him to either answer if he winked or not or if he was harboring ill will. If he does not say he
did or didn’t just move on. Get him to say what his ideas might be to help out the loan sections and pick
he brains and then at the next meeting give him some props for coming up with new ideas. He may just
need that approval motivation and he will work harder as he peers will see him stepping up his game at
work.