INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES IN THE WORKPLACE

Assignment Overview

Managers often notice the relationship between attitudes and job performance. You may have heard someone say, "With that great attitude, this employee will set new sales records!" or "With that poor attitude, quality work will never result!" However, managers seldom realize that they can affect an employee's work attitudes (such as job satisfaction and commitment), which in turn can affect job outcomes such as turnover, absenteeism, and productivity.

Case Assignment

In this first Case Assignment, you are asked to view a video that examines attitudes, behaviors, and their impacts on the workplace. In this first case you will be writing about one of the following scenarios:

• Kelly and the Personal Space Invader (Sam)
• Sophia and the Empty Pit (Molly), or
• Ray and the Chip on the Shoulder (Victor)

Video:

Fisher, R. (Producer), & Napoli, J. (Director). (2007). Working with you is killing me: Freeing you from emotional traps at work [Video/DVD]. CRM Learning. Available in the Trident Online Library, Academic Videos.

To access the video:

1. Click Online Library at the top of the page. (If you don't see it, click More, then click Online Library.)
2. Under Additional Library Sources, click Academic Video Online. Alexander Street videos come up.
3. In the search box at the top, type the video's title: Working with You Is Killing Me.
4. To play the video, click on its picture. (It should be the first box.) The video will begin.
5. Write paper discussing the following terms as they relate specifically to your chosen scenario:

• Job satisfaction
• Attitudes toward management and co-workers
• Organizational and job commitment
• Absenteeism and turnover

1. One way to organize your paper is to divide it into sections. For example:
2. Introduction (The introduction does not need its own title. Use the title you selected for your paper, instead).
3. Job Satisfaction (heading)
4. Attitudes toward Managers and Co-Workers (heading)
5. Organizational and Job Commitment (heading)
6. Absenteeism and Turnover (heading)
7. In your paper, make recommendations for change that Kelly and Sam, Sophia and Molly, or Ray and Victor (from your scenario chosen for this assignment) should take to improve their own job satisfaction going forward.