I thought that the stairs/dispensers/droppers would point in the direction in which you chose to place them.
The flat side of the stairs always points east. the face(with the hole) of dispenser/dropper always points south BUT if you place a dispenser/dropper next to a dispenser/dropper then it will face west.(the stairs also look weird in creative menu)

Stairs-
1.place the stairs.

Dropper/dispenser-
1.place a dropper/dispenser.
2.place a dropper/dispenser to the existing one you just placed.