International Leadership Institute

Individual Assignment for OB and Cross culture Course

Prepared By:
Dawit Asmelash(Sec.B)
ID-ILI/MBA/15/034/19

Submitted to: Kassu Jilcha Sileyew, PhD

June, 2020
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1. What is the difference between job satisfaction and organizational commitment? Which
do you think would be more strongly related to performance? Which would be more
strongly related to turnover?
Job satisfaction: - defined as the feelings people have toward their job and has more
relationship with performance.
Organizational commitment: - is the emotional attachment people have toward the
company they work for.
These two job attitudes overlap each other because job satisfaction mostly comes with
more organizational commitment.

Turnover will depend on many factors, such as

 People who perform poorly are actually more likely to leave.

 When workers are unhappy at work, they are more likely to leave.
 Because of health problem
 Because of age; it seems that younger employees are more likely to leave.
 Sacrificing the job itself for more money
 If there is a stress and has no work-life balance

2. Do you think making employees happier at work is a good way of motivating people?
When would high satisfaction not be related to high performance?

 Yes, happy workers have an inclination to be more engaged at work and

motivated to perform more. But Just because you want to perform, will not
actually make you a higher performer. This is because chances are that your skill
level in performing the job will also matter. There are also some jobs where
performance depends on factors beyond an employee’s control, such as the speed
of the machine they are working on or organizational rules and regulations.

3. In your opinion, what are the three most important factors that make people dissatisfied
with their job?

• If there is a stress and has no work-life balance

 Limited Career Growth.
 Lack of Meaningful Work.

What are the three most important factors relating to organizational commitment?

 Age,
 Gender,
 Educational qualification and marital
4. How important is payment in making people attached to a company and making
employees satisfied?
 Compensation is directly related to retention of the workers, because workers are
competing for top performance if there is a high compensation. This may be due
to the fact that 70 percent of high-retention-risk employees believe they must
leave their current position in order to advance their careers and have good
compensation.

5. Do you think younger and older people are similar in what makes them happier at work
and committed to their companies?

 Because people who are younger will have fewer responsibilities such as
supporting a household or dependents. As a result, they can quit a job they don’t
like much more easily.

Do you think there are male–female differences? Explain your answers.

 Women are more engaged and committed to the company than men do. This is
because;
 Women often choose more fulfilling work.
 Women work efficiently
 Women are more enthusiastic about their work.
 Women may have lower aspirations.
 Women's success is seen as victorious.
 Some women are just happy to have a job.
 Women have different expectations that aren't quite as high.
 Women are more engaged at work.

6. Self-concept, self-esteem, and self-presentation are the three parts of self-perception.

How do you see yourself in each of these three areas? Compare your self-view with how
some close friends see you.
 I have self-confidence on my work & I have good perception to myself and I believe
others also known me by these characteristics.
7. What do you consider most when forming an impression of a person you have just met
from social perception prospective point of view? What types of attribution error are you
most likely to make? Discuss potential differences in attribution error among different
people.
8. Which of the three causes change your attitudes about some object most quickly with
respect to sources of attitude changes?

 Educational and Religious Institutions.

 Family.
  Personal Experience.

9. Which personality development theory is the most realistic explanation is important

process? Why?

 From my perspective and also considering 80% of Ethiopians, I believe Erik

Erikson’s eight-stage theory of human development is more realistic than others.
It is because. While the theory builds on Freud’s stages of psychosexual
development, Erikson chose to focus on how social relationships impact
personality development. The theory also extends beyond childhood to look at
development across the entire lifespan.

10. How do you define the personality of a friend you know in your organization working
with you as a team member?

 I can define him

• Cares about others

• Enjoys helping and contributing to the happiness of other people
• Assists others who are in need of help
• Has a great deal of interest in other people
• Feels empathy

11. How do you work in your organization with dynamic group? How do you make group in
organization and control it?

 To create a group I will use collective efforts of forming, norming, storming and
performing. However, adjourning a group completes the group formation.

To control or manage and also to work with dynamic group, I will try to

 Know my team.
 Tackle problems quickly with good feedback.
 Define roles and responsibilities.
 Break down barriers.
 Focus on communication.
 Pay attention.
12. List out the biographical factors affect individual behaviors.
 Physical Characteristics
 Age
 Gender
  Religion
 Marital Status
 Experience
 Intelligence
 Ability
13. In which personality trait do you set yourself from five big personality trait model?
Explain why.

I can see myself from the point of Agreeableness Personality trait. It is because I am like

 Cares about others

 Enjoys helping and contributing to the happiness of other people
 Assists others who are in need of help
 Has a great deal of interest in other people
 Feels empathy

14. What are the factors causing positive and negative work attitudes? Explain each.

A. Personality
Whichever the case, it seems that personality is related to work attitudes. some experts
have shown that job satisfaction is not purely environmental and is partially due to our
personality. Some people have a disposition to be happy in life and at work regardless of
environmental factors.
B. Person–Environment Fit
The fit between what we bring to our work environment and the environmental demands
influences our work attitudes. Therefore, person–job fit and person–organization fit are
positively related to job satisfaction and commitment. When our abilities match job
demands and our values match company values, we tend to be more satisfied with our job
and more committed to the company we work for.
C. Job Characteristics
The presence of certain characteristics on the job seems to make employees more
satisfied and more committed. Using a variety of skills, having autonomy at work,
receiving feedback on the job, and performing a significant task are some job
characteristics that are related to satisfaction and commitment. However, the presence of
these factors is not important for everyone. Some people have a high growth need. They
expect their jobs to help them build new skills and improve as an employee.
D. Psychological Contract
A psychological contract is an unwritten understanding about what the employee will
bring to the work environment and what the company will provide in exchange. When
people do not get what they expect, they experience a psychological contract breach,
which leads to low job satisfaction and commitment.
 E. Organizational Justice
A strong influence over our satisfaction level is how fairly we are treated. People pay
attention to the fairness of company policies and procedures, treatment from supervisors,
and pay and other rewards they receive from the company.
F. Relationships at Work
Two strong predictors of our happiness at work and commitment to the company are our
relationships with coworkers and managers. The people we interact with, their degree of
compassion, our level of social acceptance in our work group, and whether we are treated
with respect are all important factors surrounding our happiness at work.

G. Stress
Not surprisingly, the amount of stress present in our job is related to our satisfaction and
commitment.
H. Work–Life Balance
In modern times, more employees expect to lead balanced lives, pursue hobbies, and
spend more time with their children while at the same time continuing to succeed at
work. The notion of work–family conflict is one cause of job dissatisfaction.
15. Define the group formation stages in short?

A. Forming

This is a beginning stage and lasts only a few days (or weeks). Members begin by
planning their work and their new roles. Moreover, the emotions here are positive. The
groups should begin by learning about team processes in preparation for the rough times
ahead.

B. Storming

There exists a considerable amount of fights and arguments in this stage. People begin to
feel the stress of frustration, resentment, and anger. Moreover, as the problem festers, the
job remains undone.

C. Norming

In the norming stage, the group works through individual and social issues. The group
establishes its own norms of behaviour and begin to trust each other. Moreover, as the
group develops interpersonal skills, it becomes all the more skilled.

D. Performing

In this stage, the group is ready to begin performing its respective task and assigned jobs.
In this stage, the group has become well acquainted with one another and has clarity with
 regard to what needs to and has to be done. The performing stage begins when the group
is comfortable to work and ends when the job is completed.

E. Adjourning

Post the performing stage, the group is adjourned. The adjourning stage ends the process
of group formation. Because the group is adjourned once the task that is assigned to the
group is completed.
Do you have this process guideline in organization that is documented? If so attach
sample, if no why?

There might be a guideline but I don’t have access for the document.

16. What is the classification or types of group in any organization? Discuss them.

A. Formal group:

This group is defined by the organizational structure. After planning, organizations group
the activities and put those under a formal structure, deciding their goals and objectives
and strategies to achieve the same. Formal group members report to their superiors and
interact with each other to achieve the common goals.
Usually a formal group comprises those whose nature of job is more or less
homogeneous. Thus, formal group is formed based on job specialization and similarity of
skill-sets to reap the advantages of division of labor.

B. Command group:

This group is also known as task group. A task is defined as cross-functional activities,
carried out by group members to accomplish a common goal. A team represents the
nature of a command group. A command group can be formed by drawing members from
various formal groups. For example, to achieve success in new product launches,
organizations may form a command group. Once the task is achieved, group members
may be sent back to their specific formal groups.

C. Committees:
To achieve results, organizations often form permanent or temporary committees,
drawing members from various formal groups. The reason why temporary committees
in organizations present may be entrusted to achieve temporary goals. Committees also
represent the presence of cross-functional members.

D. Informal groups:
 Informal groups are formed within a formal organizational structure. Informal group
members primarily meet the social or affiliation needs sharing their commons interests.
Thus informal groups are not organizationally determined; the members themselves from
such groups to fulfil their needs for social interaction.
In a particular organization, functional proximity primarily determines the formation of
informal groups. These apart, like-minded people, that is, those who have the same
personality and attitude constructs or those who belong to similar status (in terms of
hierarchy or economic status) also form informal groups.
Which type of group is commonly used in your organization? Why? Discuss in detail
with example.

Common group is used mostly in my organization.

Because of
 Reporting to superiors, it is easy to monitor the activities and status of the group.
 Doing the specific task effectively.
 Easy to coordinate

Example: - Recently in our organization there was a project called BASE (it is a
financial software).The purpose of the project is to change the old system to this
new system. The team members were drawn from different departments in order
to accomplish the project & to test & see the effectiveness of the project in the
perspective of different departments. The project was led by one manager & has
also sub managers for different activities.
17. What are causes of absenteeism in your organization?
 Short illness,
 Personal time, holidays,
 Lack of money for commuting,
 Oversleeping, exhaustion because of work,
 Laziness, and
 Attending parties or social events.
18. What are the four key work behaviors? Discuss them.
 Job performance- is the act of doing a job. It is a means to reach a goal or set of
goals within a job, role, or organization but not the actual consequences of the
acts performed within a job.
 Organizational citizenship behaviors- is a person's voluntary commitment
within an organization or company that is not part of his or her contractual tasks.
 Absenteeism- refers to unscheduled absences from work. Absenteeism is costly
to companies because of its unpredictable nature. When an employee has an
unscheduled absence from work, companies struggle to find replacement workers
at the last minute.
  Turnover- refers to an employee leaving an organization

19. In some companies, managers are rewarded for minimizing the turnover within their
department or branch. A part of their bonus is directly tied to keeping the level of
turnover below a minimum. What do you think about the potential effectiveness of these
programs? Do you see any downsides to such programs?

 I believe minimizing employees’ turnover can create a company belongingness to

the employees & also can increase commitment. But sometimes because of the
below points it can be good to turnover employees,
 If the employee has low performance for long time
 If the employee has a problem on discipline
 To get new ideas & information from new employees

20. Are citizenship behaviors always beneficial to the company? Can you think of any
citizenship behaviors employees may perform with the intention of helping a company
but that may have negative consequences overall?

 Generally, companies benefited by citizenship behaviors. Because it done by

employees voluntarily to help others and benefit the company.

But sometimes even though it is handled voluntarily, employees may put themselves in
work load and stress that also could lead to work-life balance, burnout, negative
workplace behavior ,health & wellbeing problem, turnover intension and so on.