Analysis of the impact of individual personality upon formal group Essay

Analysis of the impact of individual personality upon formal group processes - Essay Example Various factors, such as the type of organization, the organizational structure and the conditions in the internal and external organizational environment are likely to influence the interaction between personality and the workplace. The role of personality within contemporary organizations is discussed in this paper. Particular emphasis is given on the potentials of personality to influence the behaviour of groups activating with each organization. At the next level, the existing theories of group processes are presented and analysed, aiming to identify the terms under which these processes interact with personality. It is proved that personality can highly affect group processes in modern organizations, especially in regard to organizations that are highly de-centralized, allowing the development of initiatives by employees at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. 2. Theories of personality – how these theories are relevant in contemporary organizations James & Mazerol le (2002) also claim that in the context of the workplace the characteristics of personality ‘are likely to become clearer compared to other environments’ (James & Mazerolle 2002, p.18). ... theory, which is based on the views of Freud and Mead, promotes the idea that personality is related to biology, meaning that the behaviour of individuals can be affected by their biological characteristics, as similar to those of their ancestors. However, this theory accepts the influence of the environment on human behaviour, noting that the continuous development of ‘the behaviour of adults is possible’ (Schneider & Smith 2004, p.10), even if it is influenced by ‘the experiences of these individuals during their childhood’ (Schneider & Smith 2004, p.10). According to this theory, when being in the workplace individuals can develop different modes of behaviour; however, the key role of childhood on employees’ behaviour should be highlighted. James & Mazerolle (2002) also claim that in the context of the workplace the characteristics of personality ‘are likely to become clearer compared to other environments’ (James & Mazerolle 2002, p.1 8). The reason seems to be the fact that in the workplace individuals have to face a series of different behavioural challenges, due to their coexistence with other individuals; as a result of this fact, in modern organizations are expected to develop a high range ‘of cognitive structures (beliefs, values) and cognitive processes (analysis)’ (James & Mazerolle 2002, p.18). Figure 1 - Stage Theory of Early Ego Integration and Object Relations (Christopher et al. 2001, p.693) The theory X and theory Y of McGregor remain the key theoretical frameworks for explaining the behaviour of individuals in modern organizations. The theory X is based on the view that people, by their nature, dislike work (Denhardt 2010). For this reason, in order to secure the high organizational performance, managers need to supervise, as