Behavioural Analysis in this reflective essay

The reflective essay will analyse my behaviour in accordance with my personality traits and motivational factors. Since, this essay compromises of reflective and behavioural analysis,definition of Behaviour;“Behaviour is an aspect of an individual’s mind, the manner in which one reacts when one is confronted with a circumstance or an event” (Vecchio, Hearn & Southey, 1992).Every individual possesses a unique behaviour of itself as it is directly proportional to the occurrences of events in their life. In this essay I will discuss my scores based on assessment question and support them based on my behavioural experiences within the particular environment, some of the results were surprising and I got to know positive as well as negatives aspects of my behaviour analysis.

Behavioural Analysis in this reflective essay is based on the questionnaire “What about me” focusing mainly on personality insights (1.A.1 to 1.A.5) and motivational insight (1.C.1 to 1.C.10) listed in the organizational behaviour self assessment library CD, version 3.3 (Robbins & Judge, 2007b).

Beginning with the personality side of my behaviour; the initial analysis of (I-A-1). What’s my basic personality? (Robbins & Judge, 2007b) .It accessed highly on conscientiousness with a score of 14, 13 extroversion, 13 Agreeableness,13 Emotional Stability and 9 openness to experience.

Gordon Allport say’s that personality is “the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to his environment” (Robbins, Millett & Waters-Marsh, 2004, pp.100).

A high score of 14 on conscientiousness is completely appreciated as I am conscientious and achievement oriented, decision of Principal and Staff in school to elect me as Head Boy during School (2002-03) proves a worth here, during my term I achieved objectives and goals allotted in my mission. Academic Awards in Science, Mathematics and Hindi, Inter School Sports Trophy for Soccer and Cricket, and Cultural Fest.

I agree on my score of extroversion.I was the Student Coordinator for College Management Fest (MATTRIX 2007-08).I was coordinating with college teams from states all together.

Agreeableness, the score of 13 is well suited to me,I am a person who can be trusted and cooperative, this quality was right there from childhood, in our Boarding School (Scindia School) we had Cafe Distribution,I was always considered for the distribution due to trusting and cooperative nature.

Emotional stability score was unexpected,I partially agree with it, though I am not a calm person nor enthusiastic to the extent of my score of 13, when I was working with AOL (America Online Ltd.) during my tenure once I had to handle a situation where the customer was very impatient and non cooperative, even after I had resolved his Technical problem he was not agreeing on the fact that the problem was solved, it was already 45 minutes on that call,I really lost control over it, with a rude tone I just hanged up the call.

I agree, I am not very open to experience and feel the moderate score of 9 (I-A-1) is justificable.Most of the times I prefer familiar things, but sometimes I do have wide range of interests and a fascination with novelty and innovation which is evident from the fact that I went to a trip to a place called Panchmari (India) which was about exploring the deep forests and attending a military training camp.

Coming to (I-A-2) “What’s my Jungian 16 type personality?”. My personality has been classified as ENTP type i.e. extrovert, intuitive, thinking and perceiving.

It surprised me as I don’t consider myself as a complete extrovert but person bordering on an introvert.I am a talkative person.I socialise well with people.During my flight to Melbourne I was in constant touch with the people around asking them about different things and restless trying to make contacts.But I avoid talking to people who tend to have an effect on me indirectly or directly as I can feel the negative vibes coming out of them, it’s my mental conditioning, this is also justified by psychologists who term it as “operant conditioning which means to develop a behaviour in order to gain a positive reward or prevent a negative event in one’s life” (Robbins, Judge, Millet & Waters-Marsh, 2008).I think a lot before presenting anything let it be a project or any decision.

The only fact of “What’s my Jungian 16-type personality?” which I agree with is P type personality i.e. Perceiving.I think “if a person cannot self actualise their own worth it’s their destiny”. When I was in International Conference at Bangladesh we were given a group activity where this guy called Andrew from UK was very reluctant about a last minute change which a group decided,he just decided to back up and the group didn’t have a problem from him backing out as I took the responsibility of covering the topic which he was suppose to,and we actually managed to be one of the top five teams scoring an average in the competition.

(I-A-3) People with type-A personality are ones “who are geared towards making constant effort to gain more and more in limited time even at times of opposing forces which makes them impatient” (Robbins & Judge 2007a).I took a hasty decision of giving 300$ to a landlord for booking a room for me as I didn’t have accommodation arranged and I had applied for an on campus accommodation,but the university didn’t give confirmation on campus accommodation so just one day before the check out I went and paid the amount to book a room,to my surprise I got a room confirmed the same evening, I landed up paying the 300$ which went waste.In group many a times my friends have pointed me out for cutting their conversation and interrupting in between even before they finish their conversations,these behavioural characteristics justifies my assessment score of 117.

Ambiguity (I-A-4) is the ability which I developed as an when I stepped in outside world, a score of 21 is positive indication. In my previous company I was asked to sell a Swaraj Mazda bus to an unknown customer, it was a bit difficult situation as I use to handle Administration,but taking it as a challenge I sold 2 vehicles to the customer and was rewarded for it, this can be related to Variable ratio schedule also i.e. “reward varies relative to the behaviour of the individual”.(Robbins, Judge, Millet & Waters-Marsh,2004, pg no.52).

Creativity (I-A-5) is “Individualistic, novel, idea generating process”. (Gregory. B & Margaret. A,1990, pp.210).I completely agree with my score of +3,as I am not creative to an extreme level.Sometimes I am creative by adding idea and thought to an ongoing process.During a Soccer match when my coach was suggesting a plan to be followed and he was surprised by an idea which I gave to implement in that plan which was more result oriented.

Discussing questions on “Motivation Insights”. Motivation is the act of triggering an individual to strive towards their established goals in order to achieve it successfully (Robbins & Judge, 2007a).

(I-C-1) ‘What motivates me?”. I have been judged to have a high growth need of 16, which I completely agree. Alderfer’s ERG (Existence, Relatedness and Growth) theory classifies existence, relatedness and growth needs as three major groups of needs (Robbins & Judge, 2007a). According to his theory different individuals attach different degree of importance to each of the above mentioned need categories and can strive to satisfy any of the need groups without following a set pattern which is in slight contrast to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory which followed a order in which lower level needs were satisfied before higher level needs could be satisfied (Robbins, Judge, Millet & Waters-Marsh, 2004).Success & achievement, that is what I desire.While working with Earnest and Young(Financial Organisation) I was able to analyse the financial markets and convert money into more realisable asset.I will pursue the same career with added value to my knowledge after MBA.Existence needs, score of 13 is not agreeable as I am considerate of job security within the organisation.I was offered a job in Northern Trust Co. to pursue a training in US for which there was no job guarantee so I rejected the offer.

Discussing about dominant needs (I-C-2), my score is fair in terms of Achievement-21, Affliation-15, Autonomy-15 and Power-16. I think “no one is perfect; all improve from their past exposures”.I always try to perform better than my previous performances specially in studies, the difference can be seen in my Marks Cards from 12^th Grade till Date as it shows an upwards trend.With success you automatically gain power it’s a proven fact which drive others towards me, in class whenever there was group presentation most of my classmates preferred my group.McClelland’s theory of needs also consider achievement, power and affiliation as three most motivating needs (Robbins, Judge, Millet & Waters-Marsh, 2004).

(I-C-3) “What Rewards Do I Value Most”?.I tend to get motivated by factors like Recognition, Job Security,Prestigious Title etc.Score of 5 in recognition and job security is agreeable as I like to be appraised for my work.I was judged as the best Speaker for the Debate competition held in Mayo College.I prefer a permanent job rather than a temporary job, you can’t actually focus on your work and strive through efficiency if you are not secured in an organisation..My score of 4 in Good pay, prestigious Title, Interesting work, Chances to advance and friendly co-workers holds a little less importance.

Discussing (I-C-4) “What’s My View On The Nature Of The People?”, I believe my score of 19 is truly justifiable, as I fall in between theory X and theory Y.I have a tendency to work with different individuals,it is a perfect picture of my view on nature of people.My class was divided into groups having rivalries but I was comfortable adjusting with everyone.

(I-C-5) “What are my Course Performance Goals?”.Score of 11 has completely impressed me.I am a Goal Oriented individual.I decided to pursue MBA and will be specialising in finance as this directs me towards my objective.One factor I think is missing with performance goal is time which is explained in the Enriching Goal-Setting Theory with Time: An Integrated approach (Fried & Slowik, 2004), according to this theory most of the motivation plan fail to integrate the time factor and hence are not completely valid as past, present and future depend a lot on time.

(I-C-6) “How Confident I am in my abilities to succeed?”, score of 30 is perfect as I am confident.I took the challenge to pursue MBA in Melbourne even after the great media hype about Indians getting attacked.

(I-C-7) “What’s my Attitude towards Achievement?”.Score of 43 Favour Seeing Successful People fall and 51 Favour Successful People Rewarded is sarcastic.It hardly affects me considering others success stories.It was great to see my friends accepting rewards for scoring high marks in 10^th Grade and there were people who were expecting the reward but were not given,it didn’t have much effect on me.

(I-C-8)“How sensitive am I to Equity Differences”?,(I-C-9) What’s my Jobs Motivating Potential? , and (I-C-10) Do I want an Enriched Job?, the scores for the above questions were (I-C-8) 27, (I-C-9) 170, and (I-C-10) 4.1 . I don’t agree with my score of 27(I-C-8) as it states category Entitleds,I am justified with the category Equity sensitive.I was involved in rotract club of my college where we conducted a blood donation camp it was a team effort we appreciated the consequences with equal appreciation, relating to Equity Theory “it is an exchange perspective, a perspective that views behaviour as a process in which workers exchange appropriate work behaviours for desired consequences” (Gregory B, Margaret A, 1990, pp.165).The MPS and enrichness in job result are nearby average indicating attachment towards challenging work and growth which motivates me to an extent.I was in Administrative department for Swaraj Mazda I had to make a marketing plan which I completed in a month.I realised my capabilities in Marketing field,the motivation provided by the Managing Director proved an added advantage. In Job Characteristics Model by J. Richard Hackman and Greg Oldham “there is set of job characteristics and these characteristics affect behavioural outcomes”. (Stephen P, Robbins, Timothy A,13^th Edition,2009,pp 217).

In the above essay I have analysed my behaviour in respect with the results provided by taking the questionnaire in the self assessment library (Robbins & Judge, 2007b). It was a great discovery I could say about my behavioural and motivational aspects, quite surprising in few questions like Equity Differences, Extroversion, and Emotional Stability where I didn’t agree with my results, but at the same time I have been able to identify positive personality & motivational traits like conscientiousness, A type personality, growth & relatedness needs which I value more in an organisation, I am a highly achievement oriented individual which motivates me a lot specially now doing my MBA at La Trobe University, the confident aspect considering my abilities to succeed in what I do is comparatively high. Overall the assessment results has given me a bird view point about my negative indicators and an opportunity to convert them into positive indicators of behavioural aspect and strengthen the personality aspects already acquainted by my personality.

REFERENCES

• Fried, Y. & Slowik, L. H., (2004), Enriching Goal-Setting Theory With Time: An Integrated Approach, Academy of Management Review, 29, 3, pp. 404-422, Wayne State University, <http://webct.latrobe.edu.au/webct/urw/lc9140001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct> (Accessed on 19^th July, 2009).

• Robbins, S.P., Millett, B. & Waters-Marsh, T., (2004), Organisational Behaviour, 4th Edition, Pearson Education Australia, Australia.

• Robbins, S.P. & Judge T.A. (2007a), Organizational Behaviour, 12^th Edition, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

• Robbins, S.P. & Judge T.A. (Eds.) (2007b), Prentice Hall’s Self-Assessment Library Version 3.3, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

• Robbins, S.P., Judge, T.A., Millett, B. & Waters-Marsh, T., (2008) Organisational Behaviour, 5^th Edition, Pearson Education Australia, Australia.

• Vecchio, R. P., Hearn. G. & Southey, G., (1992), Organisational Behaviour: Life at Work in Australia, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Australia.

• Stephen P. Robbins , Timothy A. Judge, (2009) Organisational Behaviour,13^th Edition, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey.

• Gregory B. Northcraft, Margaret A. Neale, (1990), Organisational Behaviour (A Management Challenge), The Dryden Press, a division of Holt,Rinehart and Winston, Inc.

APPENDIX

S.P. & Judge T.A. (Eds.) (2007b), Prentice Hall’s Self-Assessment Library Version 3.3, Pearson Prentice Hall, New Jersey

• App. 1 – 1.A.1 What’s My Basic Personality?

• App.2 – 1.A.2 What’s My 16-Type Jungian Personality?

• App.3 – 1.A.3 Am I a Type-A?

• App.4 – 1.A.4 How Well Do I Handle Ambiguity?

• App.5 – 1.A.5 How Creative Am I?

• App.6 – 1.C.1 What Motivates Me?

• App.7 – 1.C.2 What are my Dominant Needs?

• App.8 – 1.C.3 What Rewards Do I value Most?

• App.9 – 1.C.4 What’s My View On The Nature Of The People?

• App.10 -1.C.5 What Are My Course Performance Goals?

• App.11- 1.C.6 How Confident Am I In My Abilities to Succeed?

• App.12- 1.C.7 What’s My Attitude Toward Achievement?

• App.13- 1.C.8 How Sensitive Am I To Equity Differences?

• App.14- 1.C.9 What’s My Job’s Motivating Potential?

• App.15- 1.C.10 Do I want an Enriched Job

Questionnaire and Results are attached.