Sharmori Richardson

Intro to Business
Homework Week 5

8-1.

Describe the big five personality traits and how they contribute to employee

performance.
a) Agreeableness is a persons ability to get along with others. Individuals with high
levels of agreeableness tends to be gentle, cooperative, forgiving, understanding,
and good-natured in dealing with others. They tend to create good working
relationships with coworkers. Individuals with low levels of agreeableness are
usually irritable, short-tempered, uncooperative, and antagonistic towards other
people. They are likely to not have a good working relationship with coworkers.
b) Conscientiousness is situated with an individuals persistence, dependableness,
and orderliness. Highly conscientious people are more organized in terms of
completing tasks, systematic, careful, thorough, responsible and self-disciplined.
They tend to be high performers in different departments of a firm. Less
conscientious individuals tend to be irresponsible, disorganized, less thorough and
self disciplined.
c) Emotionality refers to the emotions of people. Whether they are likely to be
positive or negative when it comes to situations. People with positive emotionality
are poised, calm, resilient. They are better at handling stress and pressure. People
with negative emotionality are excitable, insecure, reactive, and subjected to
mood swings.
d) Extraversion refers to the persons comfort level with relationships. Extroverts are
sociable, talkative, assertive, and open to establishing new relationships. They are

very high job performers. Introverts are less sociable, talkative and assertive.
They are people that are likely not to begin new relationships.
e) Openness reflects how open or rigid a person is with her beliefs. People with high
levels of openness are interested in listening to new ideas and to change their own
ideas and beliefs where as low levels of openness tend to be less receptive to new
8-2.

ideas and less willing to change their minds.

What are the three component of attitudes? Be sure to describe each.
a) The three components of attitudes are: Cognition, affect and intention. Cognition
is the knowledge a person presumes to have about something. Cognition is based
on perceptions of truth and reality.
b) Affect is a persons feelings towards something. This component is similar to
emotions.
c) Intentions is a part of an attitude that guides a persons behavior. Intentions are
not always translated into actual behavior, however, they are much more central

8-3.

and significant to an individual than others.

Compare and contrast the hierarchy of human needs with the two-factor theory of

motivation.
a) Maslow describes five basic types of needs, while Herzberg describes two
categories of needs. In both cases, lower-level needs must be satisfied first.
However, in Maslows model, when needs are met, it ceases to motivate behavior,
whereas in Herzbergs model hygiene factors only affect motivation in that they
8-4.

are absent or fail to meet expectations.

How can participative management programs enhance employee satisfaction and

motivation?
a) Participative Management and Empowerment is a method of increasing job
satisfaction by giving employees voice in the management of their jobs and the

company. When using this method, it makes employees feel more committed to
8-5.

organizational goals that they have helped shaped.

Assume you are about to start your own business. What would you do from the

beginning to ensure that your employees will be satisfied and motivated.

a) In regards to this question, I would use the participative management and empowerment
method. In meetings, this will give employees a voice in how the company can do better
and also state the needs of the company. They also can give new goals that can grow the
company internationally.

Chapter 9
9-1.

What are the basic differences between management and leadership?

a) The differences between management and leadership is that management requires
planning organizing leading and controlling, while leadership requires agenda

9-2.

setting, aligning, inspiring and monitoring.

Summarize the basic premises underlying the trait approach to leadership.
a) Trait approach to leadership focuses on identifying the essential traits that
distinguished leaders. This led researchers to focus on leadership traits such as:

intelligence, dominance, self confidence, energy, activity and knowledge about a

9-3.

specific job.
What are leadership substitutes and neutralizers?
a) Leadership substitutes are individual, task and organizational characteristics that
tend to outweigh the need for a leader to initiate or direct employee performance.
b) Leadership neutralizers are factors that may render a leaders behavior to be

9-4.

ineffective.
List and briefly explain the steps in rational decision making?
a) The steps in rational decision making are:
Recognizing and Defining the Decision Situation- This step involves defining

the situation and the benefits or consequences of the situation.

Identifying Alternatives- This step basically deals with finding alternatives to

handle the situation in the best and positive manner.

Evaluating Alternatives- This step deals with weighing each alternative and

how will it deal with the situation at hand.

Selecting the Best Alternative- After evaluating the alternatives, management

will choose the alternative that is most effective in handling the situation.
Implementing the chosen Alternative- After choosing the best alternative,
management put the chosen alternative into effect. Even though the that

alternative was the best, it still may have some consequences.

Following Up and Evaluating the Results- The final step in the rational
decision making process require that management evaluate the effectiveness
of their decision. They will make sure that the chosen alternative has served

9-5.

its original purpose.

Describe the five types of power. Which type or types does your current

supervisor exercise?
a) The five types of power are:
Legitimate power- this is the power granted through the organizational
hierarchy. It is the power defined by the organization to be accorded to
people occupying a particular position.

Reward power- this is the power to give or withhold rewards. Rewards can

include salary bonuses and promotions.

Coercive power- this is the power to force compliance by means of

psychological, emotional, or physical threat.

Referent power- this is power based on identification, imitation, loyalty or

charisma.
Expert power- this is power that derived from information or expertise.
b) In regards to the second part of this question, my supervisor uses the legitimate
9-6.

power.
When is task-focused leader behavior most important? When is it more important

for a leader to exhibit employee behavior?

a) Task-focused leader behavior is most important when a leader focuses on how to task
should be performed to meet certain goals and to achieve certain performance
standards.
b) Employee-focused leader behavior is most important when a leader is focused on the
9-7.

satisfaction, motivation, and well-being of his or her employees.

The impact of virtual leadership is likely to grow in the future. As a potential

follower in a virtual leadership situation, what issues would be of most concern to you?
What would the issues be from the perspective of the leader role in such a situation?
a) In regards to this question, the issues of virtual leadership for me can be
establishing relationships with the employer. Sometimes these communications
can be misleading to the employees that can make them nervous about making
mistakes in completing a task. In regards to the second part of this question, the
issues concerning the leader role can be creating and maintaining relationships
with management and employees.