Committed Salesforce: An Investigation into Personality Traits

Abstract

<p>This study aims to uncover the pre-dispositional roots of organizational commitment. More specifically, the<br />purpose of the study is to investigate whether affective and continuance dimensions of organizational<br />commitment are delibrately influenced by a defined set of personality traits. The study applies well-established<br />measurements of organizational commitment and personality traits on a sample of sales representatives in six<br />major Egyptian pharmaceuticals. The findings reveal that organizational commitment is an attitude which is<br />influenced by the sales man’s personality traits, although cultural differences may affect the way personality<br />traits influence commitment at work.</p

Uncovering the Pre-Dispositional Roots of Job Satisfaction

“…Unfortunately, this tactic inflates problems to the degree to which they can not be solved. In this respect, Hawass (2011) found that neuroticism is negatively associated with Egyptian salesmen's commitment to their organizations even if alternative job choice are scarcely available. Further, Connolly and Viswesvaran (2000) emphasized that neuroticism is the prime input of negative affectivity which, in turn, badly influences job satisfaction.…”

“…as McCrae (2001) put it, the meaning of openness to experience, for example, in Castilian Spanish reflects the traits of 'extravagant, eccentric and Bohemian) while in other cultures it may emphasize the intellectual interests of the individual. In fact, it would be important to construct culturespecific big-five models that cover different cultures such as the Middle-East, although studies have found consistencies between the Middle East and other nations (Hawass, 2011). These culture-specific models would allow researchers to attain more accurate results concerning the impact of personality on individuals' attitudes in different cultures.…”

“…In this sense, Continuance commitment is an artificial organizational commitment that does not involve positive affective attitudes toward the organization. This, in turn, can negatively influence employee performance and organizational effectiveness (Hawass, 2011). Third, normative commitment is the degree to which an individual prefers to stay as a return of favour to the organization which has www.intechopen.com contributed to his overall well-being (Meyer and Herscovitch, 2001).…”

“…Parnell and Hatem (1999) emphasize that friendship at business is usually prioritized over the task requirements of the job, simply, because the Egyptian culture stresses on the importance of providing distinctive favours to true friends. Hawass (2011) proposes that these culture-bound behaviours are associated with the concept of agreeableness in personality psychology. The agreeable individual is a trusting, forgiving and easy going person who values friendship more than work and career success (Judge et al, 1999).…”

“…The big five model is the product of successive research work that originated in the early years of the last centaury (Hawass, 2011). Allport and Odbert (1936) have used an unabridged English dictionary to make a list of personality-relevant attributes.…”