INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Topic 1 – PERSONALITY &

LEARNING STYLE

Instructor: Dr. Truong Thi Lan Anh

 Let’s think of your daily
behaviors.
Which one do you think is
holding you back from
demonstration/making right
decisions?
1. Yourself
2. Other people
3. Circumstances
These 3 beliefs dramatically affect
your mindsets!
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 SELF-AWARENESS
• Who do you want to be?
• Where are you now?
• How do you get there?

• What are your strengths &

weaknesses?
• What inside that lead you to
such behaviors?

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Individual differences: PERSONALITY

• The sum of ways in which an individual

reacts and interacts with others.
• Personality determinants:
1. Heredity: Shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy,
ambitious, loyal, and timid ➔ born (personality
traits)
2. Environment & Situation: reflective,
behavioral preferences ➔ changing
(Robbins & Judge, 2018)

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 Practical view on Personality and
Assessing personality traits
• Personality = Your MOST
COMFORTABLE behaviors which tend to
be consistent in reacting to the situations
and environment
• Assessing personality: measures how
you NATURALLY PREFER to do things
• Complicated !!!

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 Situation Strength Theory
• The way personality translates into behavior
depends on the strength of the situation
• Situation strength = the degree to which norms,
cues, or standards dictate appropriate behavior.
– Strong situations: show us what the right behavior
is, pressure us to exhibit it, and discourage the wrong
behavior.
– Weak situations: “anything goes,” we are freer to
express our personality in behavior.
• Personality traits better predict behavior in weak
situations than in strong ones.
(Robbins & Judge, 2018)
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 Personality: individual’s reaction
mode to the stimuli in the
environment
Behavior under
Self image Work mask
pressure

Unconscious behavior Conscious behavior

Spontaneous behavior Work role
Pressure behavior Desired behavior
Natural behavior Corporate culture
Less stressful behavior Adjusted behavior
Less energy More energy

(Source: Adapted from Carl Jung, 1920)

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 Assessing personality: The Myers-
Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

• Individuals are classified on four axes to determine

one of 16 personality types (Free test:
https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-
test)
• Implications for managers:
– MBTI® is a good tool for self-awareness and counseling.
– Should not be used as a key selection test for job
candidates.

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 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Practical and
Extroverted Introverted Quiet and Shy
Orderly (E) (I)

Sociable and Unconscious

Sensing Intuitive
Assertive (S) (N)
Processes

Use Reason Thinking

Feeling (F)
Uses Values &
and Logic (T) Emotions

Want Order Perceiving Flexible and

Judging (J) Spontaneous
& Structure (P)

Personality - Dr. Truong T. Lan Anh

5-9
 Example: An overall picture of
personalities in the leadership team of a
Vietnamese company
ISFP - The Artist, 1 ISTP - The
Mechanic, 1
INTJ - The Scientist, 1

INFP - The Idealist, 1

ESTP - The Doer, 1 ESTJ - The
ENTP - The Guardian, 12
Visionary, 1

ENTJ - The
Executive, 1

ENFP - The
Inspirer, 1

ISFJ - The
Nurturer, 2

INTP - The Thinker,

2

ESFP - The
Performer, 2
ISTJ - The Duty
Fulfiller, 8

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 TEST YOURSELF

Let’s take a mini-test of personality:

• Recognizing some personal characteristics of
yours that emerge to identify you
• Are they your strengths or weaknesses?

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Preference Area for Skill Development
E Listening to others.
I Assertiveness, influence, power
S Creative problem solving, risk taking, visioning.
N . Planning, management by objectives, situation
diagnosis.
T Interpersonal relations, empowerment, giving
and receiving positive performance feedback.
F Delegation, power, giving and receiving critical
performance feedback.
J Stress management, negotiation strategies,
change management.
P Time management, decision making, project
planning.
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 Application:
Learning styles based on MBTI

Thinking Feeling
Sensing

Judging
Perceiving

Intuiting
Personality - Dr.
13 Truong T. Lan
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MBTI and Data processing for decision

Extrovert (E)
Type of Social
Interaction Introvert (I)

Sensing (S)
Preference for
Gathering Data Intuitive (N)

Feeling (F)
Preference for
Decision Making Thinking (T)

Perceptive (P)
Style of
Decision Making Judgmental (J)
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The Big Five personality model

(Source:
Robbins &
Judge, 2018)

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 Application: The Big Five traits
• Implications for managers:
– Highly conscientious people develop more job
knowledge, exert greater effort, and have better
performance.
– Emotional stability is related to job satisfaction.
– Extroverts tend to be happier in their jobs and have
good social skills.
– Open people are more creative and can be good
leaders.
– Agreeable people are good in social settings.

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(Source: McKinsey, Dec. 2018)
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 Holland’s theory
• There appear to be intrinsic differences in personality
between people.
• There are different types of jobs.
• People in jobs congruent with their personality should
be more satisfied and have lower turnover.

R I However, managers are

Conventional

less interested in
someone’s ability to do a
C A
specific job than in that
person’s flexibility
E S

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 Person-Job Fit: Holland’s framework -
Personality & Congruent Occupations
Type Personality Characteristics Congruent Occupations

Realistic Shy, genuine, persistent, Mechanic, drill press operator,

stable, conforming, practical assembly-line worker, farmer

Investigative Analytical, original, curious, Biologist, economist,

independent mathematician, news reporter

Social Sociable, friendly, cooperative, Social worker, teacher,

understanding counselor, clinical psychologist

Conventional Conforming, efficient, practical, Accountant, corporate

unimaginative, inflexible manager, bank teller, file clerk

Enterprising Self-confident, ambitious, Lawyer, real estate agent,

energetic, domineering public relations specialist,
small-business manager

Artistic Imaginative, disorderly, Painter, musician, writer,

idealistic, emotional, interior decorator.
impractical

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 Implications for Managers
• Person-Job Fit: the fit between personality
type and occupational environment
determines satisfaction and turnover.
• Person-Organization Fit:
– people are attracted to and selected by
organizations that match their values, and
– they leave organizations that are not
compatible with their personalities.

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 Application: Communication
between different personalities

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 KEY WORDS

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