Conflict Management

Bukidnon State University
Graduate External Studies
PWU, Borromeo St. Surigao City
Summer 2013

Course Code : EA203
Course Title : Organization and Management
Professor : Dr. Marino L. Pamogas
Masterand : Ms. Analiza A. Enaldo
Source :

Reading 1. The Interactionist Perspective: The Role of Fit

Summary:
Individual differences matter in the workplace. Human beings bring in their personality, physical and mental abilities, and other stable traits to work. While human beings bring their traits to work, every organization is different, and every job within the organization is also different. According to the interactionist perspective, behavior is a function of the person and the situation interacting with each other. Companies are interested in assessing at least two types of fit. Person–organization fit refers to the degree to which a person’s values, personality, goals, and other characteristics match those of the organization. Person–job fit is the degree to which a person’s skill, knowledge, abilities, and other characteristics match the job demands.
Reflection:
Companies are often also interested in hiring candidates who will fit into the company culture (those with high person–organization fit). When people fit into their organization, they tend to be more satisfied with their jobs, more committed to their companies, and more influential in their company, and they actually remain longer in their company. One area of controversy is whether these people perform better. Some studies have found a positive relationship between person–organization fit and job performance, but this finding was not present in all studies, so it seems that fitting with a company’s culture will only sometimes predict job performance. It also seems that fitting in with the company culture is more important to some people than to others. Also, when they build good relationships with their supervisors and the company, being a misfit does not seem to lead to dissatisfaction on the job.
While personality traits and other individual differences are important, we need to keep in mind that behavior is jointly determined by the person and the situation. Certain situations bring out the best in people, and someone who is a poor performer in one job may turn into a star employee in a different job.