PERCEPTION

Perception is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory

information to represent and understand the environment.
Different individuals have different thinking styles, beliefs, feelings and objectives etc. and
almost every individual behaves accordingly. Just because of these factors different people
take different meaning for the same things. For some, a particular thing is right where as
for some it is totally wrong. It is all because how you take things, what is your point of view,
how you look at things. This is perception.
All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical or
chemical stimulation of the sense organs.
TYPES OF PERCEPTION

1. Vision
2. Sound
3. Touch
4. Taste
5. Smell
COMPONENTS OF PERCEPTION
Perception is a process of sensory organs. The mind gets information through the five
organs viz., the eyes, ears, nose, tongue and skin. The stimulation coming to these organs
may be through action, written messages, oral communication, odour, taste, touch of the
product and people.
1. Stimuli
The receipt of the information is the stimulus, which results in sensation. The physical
senses used by people are vision, hearing, touch, smell and taste.
Intuitions and hunches are known as the sixth sense. These senses are influenced by a
larger number of stimuli, which may be action or information, consideration and feelings,
etc.
2. Attention
People selectively attend to stimuli. Some of the stimuli are reacted to while others are
ignored without being paid any attention. The stimuli that are paid attention depend purely
on the people’s selection capacity and the intensity of stimuli. Educated employees pay
more attention to any stimuli, viz., announcement of bonus, appeal for increasing
productivity, training and motivation. The management has to find out suitable stimuli,
which can appeal to the employees at the maximum level.
3. Recognition
After paying attention to the stimuli, the employees try to recognize whether the stimuli
are worth realizing. The recognition process is dependent on mental acceptability.
For example, if the car driver suddenly sees a child running in front of his car, he stops the
car. He recognizes the stimuli, i.e; the life of the child is in danger. His mental process
recognizes the danger after paying attention to the stimuli. If he does not pay attention to
the stimuli, he cannot recognize the danger. After recognizing the stimuli, he translates the
message into behavior.

4. Translation
The stimuli are evaluated before being converted into action or behavior. The evaluation
process is translation. In the above example, the car driver after recognizing the stimuli
uses the clutch and brake to stop the car. He has immediately translated the stimulus into
an appropriate action. The perception process is purely mental before it is converted into
action. The conversion is translation. The management in an organization has to consider
various processes of translating the message into action. The employees should be assisted
to translate the stimuli into action.
For example, the announcement of bonus should be recognized as a stimulus for increasing
production. The employee should translate it into appropriate behavior. In other words,
they should be motivated by the management to increase productivity.
5. Behavior
Behavior is the outcome of the cognitive process. It is a response to change in the sensory
inputs, i.e; stimuli. It is an overt and covert response. The psychological behavior that may
influence the perception of an individual may be superior behavior, his eye movement,
raising of an eyebrow, the tone of voice, etc. The behavior of an individual depends on
perception, which is visible in the form of action, reaction or other behavior.

6. Performance
Proper behavior leads to higher performance. High performers become a source of stimuli
and motivation to other individuals. A performance- reward relationship is established to
motivate people.
7. Satisfaction
High performance gives more satisfaction. The level of satisfaction is calculated with the
difference in performance and expectation. If the performance is more than the
expectation, people are delighted, but when the performance is equal to expectation, it
results in satisfaction. On the other hand, if performance is less than the expectation people
become frustrated and this requires a more appealing form of stimulus for developing
proper employee work behavior and high performance.
 Motivation
Motivation is something that encourages action or feeling.
To motivate means to encourage and inspire.
Motivation can also mean to turn on or ignite the feeling or action.
Motivation is powerful. It can persuade, convince and propel you into action. In other words,
motivation can be defined as motive for action. It is a force that can literally change your life.
Motivation is the driving force in our lives. It comes from a desire to succeed. Without success
there is little pride in life; no enjoyment or excitement at work and at home. Often life
becomes like a lopsided wheel giving a bumpy ride. The greatest enemy of motivation is
complacence. (I know everything attitude).
Eg: Often when we get upset with our current situation, but refuse to work to improve, we
are being complacent because people feel its pointless. Complacence leads to frustration, and
when people are frustrated they give up because they cannot identify what is important.

Motivation is classified into two types:

1. External motivation and
2. Internal motivation.
EXTERNAL MOTIVATION
External motivation comes from outside, such as money, societal approval, fame or fear.
Examples of external motivation are fear of getting spanked by parents and fear of getting
fired at work.
A company wanted to set up a pension plan. In order for the plan to be installed, it needed
100% participation. Everyone signed up except John. The plan made sense and was in the
best interest of everyone. John not signing was the only obstacle. John's supervisor and other
co-workers had tried to persuade him without success. The owner of the company called
John into his office and said, "John, here is a pen and these are the papers for you to sign to
enroll into the pension plan. If you don't enroll, you are fired this minute." John signed right
away. The owner asked John why he hadn't signed earlier. John replied, "No one explained
the plan quite as clearly as you did."
A) Fear Motivation
The advantages of fear motivation are:
 It gets the job done quickly.
 It is instantaneous.
 It prevents loss, by meeting deadlines.
 In the short run the person's performance may improve.
The disadvantages of fear motivation are:
 It is external, which means the motivation is there while the motivator is there. When the
motivator goes, the motivation also goes.
 It causes stress. Performance is limited to compliance.
 In the long run, performance goes down. It destroys creativity.

 They get used to the stick and then need a bigger stick.
Example: A customer asked an employee, "When did you start working here?" He replied,
"Ever since they threatened to fire me."
B) Incentive Motivation
External motivation can also take the form of incentives, bonuses, commission, recognition,
etc.
What are the advantages of incentive motivation?
The major advantage is that it can work very well as long as the incentive is strong enough.
Think of a donkey with a carrot dangling in front and with a cart behind. Incentive motivation
will only work if the donkey is hungry enough, the carrot is sweet enough and the load is
light enough. From time to time, you have to let the donkey take a bite of the carrot;
otherwise it is going to get discouraged. After the donkey takes a bite, its stomach is full, and
you need to wait for the donkey to get hungry again before it will pull the cart. This is
typically seen in our business environment. The moment sales people meet their quota, they
stop working. This is because their motivation is limited to meeting their quota. That is
external, not internal.
INTERNAL MOTIVATION
Internal motivation is the inner gratification, not for success or winning, but for the
fulfilment that comes from having done it. It is a feeling of accomplishment, rather than just
achieving a goal. Reaching an unworthy goal does not give the gratifying feeling. Internal
motivation is lasting, because it comes from within and translates into self-motivation.
Motivation needs to be identified and constantly strengthened to succeed. Keep your goals
in front of you and read them morning and evening.
The two most important motivating factors are recognition and responsibility.
A. Recognition means being appreciated; being treated with respect and dignity; and
feeling a sense of belonging.
B. Responsibility gives a person a feeling of belonging and ownership. He then becomes part
of the bigger picture. Lack of responsibility can become demotivating. Monetary rewards
are temporary and short-lived; they are not gratifying in the long run. In contrast, seeing
an idea being implemented can be emotionally gratifying by itself. People feel that they
are not being treated like objects. They feel part of a worthwhile team. The reward of
doing the right thing by itself is motivating.

ATTITUDE
An attitude is a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an object that is expressed
at some level of intensity. It usually implies feelings that are either positive or
negative. Attitudes are our established ways of responding to people and situations
that we have learned based on the beliefs, values and assumptions we hold and our
life experiences. Our attitude towards a person or event is displaced through our
behavior as a result of interaction with that person. A person’s attitude represents
how he or she feels about something or their state of mind.

Example: If one can have a good (or positive) attitude toward their work, it means
they feel good about their work, their job, their organization, etc. If one can have a
bad (or negative) attitude, it means they dislike their environment no matter what is
going around them.

Attitude plays a very important role for achieving the success. It is more important
than education, money, knowledge, intelligence, talents or skills.
It applies to every sphere of life, including one's personal and professional life. Can
an executive be a good executive without a good attitude? Can a student be a good
student without a good attitude? Can a parent, teacher, salesman, employer,
employee be good in their roles without a good attitude?
The foundation of success regardless of your chosen field is attitude. If attitude is
such a critical factor in success, shouldn't you examine your attitude toward life and
ask how your attitude will affect your goals?
Example: Journalists, friends, armed forces, Specialists and event their father
laughed at an idea of an aero plane proposed by Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright
(Wright brothers). Many people told “What a silly and insane way to spend money?”
“Only birds can fly. Machines cannot fly!” The Wright brothers responded we have a
dream and we can make it happen”. As a result, the airplanes were invented. This
shows the importance of attitude towards the success.
 TYPES OF ATTITUDE

1. Positive Attitude

A positive attitude helps you to cope more easily with the daily affairs of life. It
brings optimism into your life and makes it easier to avoid worry and negative
thinking. It will bring constructive changes into your life and make you happier,
brighter and more successful.

Benefits of Positive Attitude

 increases productivity
 fosters teamwork
 solves problems
 improves quality
 makes for congenial (pleasant) atmosphere
 increases profits
 fosters better relationships with employers, employees, and customers
 reduces stress
 helps a person become a contributing member of society and an asset to their
country
 makes for a pleasing personality
Steps to build a Positive Attitude
Step 1: Changing the Focus and Looking for the Positive: We need to become
good finders. We need to focus on the positive in life. Let's start looking for what
is right in a person or situation instead of looking for what is wrong. Even in
paradise, fault finders will find faults. Most people find what they are looking for.
If they are looking for friendship, happiness and the positive, that is what they
get. If they are looking for fights or indifference, then that is what they get.
Looking for the positive does not mean overlooking faults.
Step 2: Making a Habit of Doing It Now: We have all procrastinated at some time
in our lives. Procrastination leads to a negative attitude. The habit of
procrastination fatigues you more than the effort it takes to do it. A completed
task is fulfilling and energizing; an incomplete task drains energy like a leak from
a tank. If you want to build and maintain a positive attitude, get into the habit of
living in the present and doing it now.
Step 3: Developing an Attitude of Gratitude: Count your blessings, not your
troubles. Take time to smell the roses. It is not uncommon to hear that someone,
because of an accident or illness, became blind or paralyzed but won a million
dollars in settlement. How many of us would like to trade places with that
 person? Not many. We are so focused on complaining about things we don't have
that we lose sight of the things we have. There is a lot to be thankful for.
Step 4: Getting into a Continuous Education Program: Let's get some myths out
of the way. It is a general belief that we get educated in schools and colleges. "Do
we really get educated in schools and colleges?" Generally, there is a consensus
that some do but most don't. We receive a lot of information in schools and
colleges and that alone is not needed in achieving our goals. We do need
information to be educated. But we need to know the true meaning of education.
Step 5: Building a Positive Self-Esteem: Self-esteem is the way we feel about
ourselves. When we feel good within, our performance goes up, our
relationships improve both at home and at work. The world looks nicer. What is
the reason? There is a direct correlation between feeling and behaviour.
Step 6: Staying away from Negative Influences: Today's teenagers learn from
adult behaviour and the media. They face peer pressure. Peer pressure is not just
limited to teenagers; it is also prevalent in adults. It shows a lack of self-esteem
when people do not have the courage to say "No, thank you," and stay away from
negative influences: What are the negative influences?

2. Negaitive Attitude

People with negative attitudes will blame the whole world, their parents, teachers,
spouse, the economy and the government for their failures. Some people criticize no
matter what. It does not matter which side you are on, they are always on the other
side. They have made a career out of criticizing. They are "career critics." They
criticize as if they will win a prize at a contest. They will find fault with every person
and every situation. You will find people like this in every home, family, office. They
go around finding fault and telling everybody how bad things are and blaming the
whole world for their problems. All that they are doing is causing more tension for
themselves and for others around them. They spread negative messages like a
plague and create an environment conducive to negative results. Some people
always look at the negative side.
 Who are pessimists? Pessimists
 are unhappy when they have no troubles to speak
 feel bad when they feel good, for fear they will feel worse when they feel
better
 spend most of their life at complaint counters
 always turn out the lights to see how dark it is
 are always looking for cracks in the mirror of life
 stop sleeping in bed when they hear that more people die in bed than
anywhere else
 cannot enjoy their health because they think they may be sick tomorrow
 not only expect the worst but make the worst of whatever happens
 don't see the doughnut, only the hole
 believe that the sun shines only to cast shadows
 forget their blessings and count their troubles
 know that hard work never hurts anyone but believe "why take a chance?"
Difference between Positive and Negative Attitude
S.No. Negative Attitude Personality Positive Attitude Personality
1 They are always part of the problem They are always part of the answer
2 They have an excuse always They always have a program
3 Sees a problem for every answer Sees an answer for every problem
4 Says ”it may be possible, but it is too Says”it may be difficult, but it is
difficult” possible”
5 Says ”it was not my fault” Says “I was wrong”
6 Always apart from the team Always a part of the team
7 Sees only problems Sees all possibilities
8 Says “Life is hard” Says “Life is filled with experiences”
9 Thinks “people are worst” Thinks “Good people are there”
10 Always hates the work place Always work with lovely people
11 They are mostly losers They are mostly winners
12 They always look on the negative side They always look on the positive side
13 They are always angry, frustrated and They are always happier, polite and
stressed lovable
14 Always says “Impossible” Always says “Possible”
15 Says “I can’t do” Says “I can do”
 SWOC ANALYSIS
What is a SWOC?
SWOC stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Challenges.
Why is a SWOC analysis important?
A SWOC analysis is a simple yet powerful way to look at the present situation
and help you identify your comparative advantages and possible ways to
improve performance.
How do I do a SWOC analysis?
Draw four quadrates and label each quadrate - as in the figure below. Set ground
rules – encourage people to think broadly. Do not criticize others ideas. Use
questions (like those included below) to guide discussion and brainstorm ideas.
(No need to put the questions in the squares.) Capture ideas below each heading.

Strengths Weakness
Strengths are what you do well. These are internal:
 What do you do better than Consider weaknesses in terms of how
others? you and others perceive your
 What advantages does your weakness?
organization have? Be realistic. Address unpleasant
 What do others see as your realities now and build for the future.
strength?  What can be improved?
 Is there anything you would
like to do better- that is not
strong now?
 What do others see as your
weaknesses?
Opportunities Challenges
What are the promising These are primarily external:
opportunities? Honest analysis will be beneficial to
 What are the changes that you help identify what needs to be done,
can make use of? (e.g., changes and to put problems into perspective.
in technology or client needs)  What are the external
obstacles?
 Who do you have to compete
with?
 Is the external environment
changing (e.g., politics,
financing)?
 Could any weaknesses
threaten your future?
 SELF ASSESSMENT
Self-assessment is the process of looking at oneself in order to assess aspects
that are important to one's identity. It is one of the motives that drive self-
evaluation, along with self-verification and self-enhancement.
Note : Self- Assessment to be done by the students