American College of Technology

MBA Online Program

Course Module For Organizational Behaviour

Prepared by: Hailemichael Mulie (MBA,MA, M.COM, PhD)

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 CHAPTER ONE

AN OVEVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Chapter Objectives: aftercompleting this chapter studenst will be able to:

Understand the menaing and definition of Organization Behaviour

Explain the nature and characterstics of Organizational Behaviour

Explain the ddvelopment of Organizatiopnmal behaviour

Analyze the contributing fields of Organizational behaviour.

I. Introduction to Organizational Behavior:

Organization is the place where the manager practice the art of management. Organization signifies
an institution or some sub-unit of an institution. Thus, business units, universities, and departments
within these institutions are organizations.

Organizational Behavior (OB) is so important matter for an organization to operate their business.
Every organization’s ultimate target is to maximize profit by satisfying customers need, want and
demand successfully. If any organization wants to do business for long time they must have to
organize their business organization to compete in a high competitive global market. That's why the
management of any organization is very sincere to operate their employees in a dynamic way.

Again it can be said that Organizational Behavior is like a tool, by which the management teams are
understood or justified the nature of employees and take an appropriate decision to lead the
organization purport. Organizational Behavior is valuable for examining the dynamics of relationships
with the small groups, both formal teams and informal groups.

Human problem need to be tackled humanly OB will be very useful in this context. It helps
understand the cause of the problems predict its course of action and control its consequences. It is
also a human tool for human benefits. The field of OB serves as the basis for modern Human
Resources Management.

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 Organizational behavior provides a useful set of tools at many levels of analysis. It helps managers
look at the behavior of individuals within an organization. It also aids their understanding of the
complexities involved in interpersonal relations, when two people (two coworkers or a superior-
subordinate pair) interact.

At the next level, organizational behavior is valuable for examining the dynamics of relationships
within small groups, both formal teams and informal groups. When two or more groups need to
coordinate their efforts, such as engineering and sales, managers become interested in the inter-group
relations that emerge. Examples include two culturally different groups, or labor and management.

Finally, organizations can also be viewed, and managed, as whole systems that have inter-
organizational relationships (e.g., mergers and joint ventures).

1.1 Meaning and Definitions:

OB deals with organizations. We know from our experience what an organization is all about, but to avoid
confusion/ambiguity a formal definition is needed. Organization is a structured social system consists of
group and individuals working together to accomplish some common pre- defined objectives or goals.
Organization Behavior (OB) is the field of study that investigates or examines the impact of individuals,
groups, and structure have on behavior within organization for the purpose of applying such knowledge
towards improving organization’s effectiveness and individuals well-being.

Organizational Behavior is the study of human behavior.

The study is about behavior in organizations; and

Knowledge of human behavior would be useful in improving organizations effectiveness.

Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people-as individuals
and as groups – act within organizations. It strives to identify ways in which people can act more
effectively.

Organizational Behavior refers to the behavior of individuals and groups within organizations and the
interaction between organizational members and their external environments.

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Organizational Behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups and
structure have on behavior within organizations for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards
improving an organization’s effectiveness

I.2 Nature and Characteristics of Organizational Behavior:

Organizational Behavior has emerged as a separate field of study. The nature it has acquired by now is
identified as follows
i. A separate field of study: By definition, a discipline is an accepted science that is based on a
theoretical foundation. But, OB has a multi-interdisciplinary orientation and is, thus, not based on a
specific theoretical background. Therefore, it is better reasonable to call OB a separate field of study
rather than a discipline only.

ii. An interdisciplinary approach: OB is essentially an interdisciplinary approach to study human

behavior at work. It tries to integrate the relevant knowledge drawn from related disciplines like
psychology, sociology, and anthropology to make them applicable for studying and analyzing
organizational behavior.

iii. An applied science: The very nature of OB is applied. What OB basically does is the application
of various researches to solve the organizational problems related to human behaviour. The basic line
of difference between pure science and OB is that while the former concentrates on fundamental
researches, the latter concentrates on applied researches. As OB involves both applied research and its
application in organizational analysis, hence, OB can be called both science as well as art.

iv. A normative science: OB is a normative science also. While the positive science discusses only
cause effect relationship, OB prescribes how the findings of applied researches can be applied to
socially accepted organizational goals. Thus, OB deals with what is accepted by individuals and
society engaged in an organization.

v. A humanistic and optimistic approach: OB applies humanistic approach towards people working
in the organization. It treats people as thinking, feeling human beings. OB is based on the belief that
people have an innate desire to be independent, creative, and productive. It also realizes that people
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working in the organization can and will actualize these potentials if they are given proper conditions
and environment. As stated earlier, environment affects performance of workers working in an
organization.

vi. A total system approach: The system approach is one that integrates all the variables affecting
organizational functioning. The system approach has been developed by the behavioral scientists to
analyze human behavior in view of his/her socio-psychological framework. Man’s socio-psychological
framework makes him a complex one and the systems approach tries to study his/her complexity and
find solution to it.

1.3 6 Importance of Organizational Behavior:

Organizational Behavior is an exciting field of study which can help the managers in effective
handling of human resources for the realization of organizational goals. Specially, it helps in
understanding and managing human behaviour as discussed below.

1. Understanding of Self and Others: Organization behaviour is a useful tool of understanding

human behaviour in all the directions in which human beings interact. Human behaviour can be
studied at the individual level, inter-personal level, group level and inter-group level as discussed
below:

i. Individual Behaviour: The main focus of psychology is the study of individual behaviour. It tries to
analyse why and how an individual behaves in a particular way. Human behaviour is affected by a
number of psychological, social and cultural factors. Organizational behaviour integrates these factors
to understand individual behaviour.

ii. Inter-personal Behaviour: Inter-personal interaction takes place because of individual’s natural
desire of socialization. By studying the behavioral sciences, an individual can understand himself and
others better. This will help him to improve interpersonal relations considerably. Understanding of
inter-personal behaviour is facilitated by the study of attitude, perception, role analysis, transactional
analysis, etc.

iii. Group Behaviour: An individual behaves differently as an individual and as a member of the
group as

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revealed by Hawthorne Studies. His behaviour is often modified by group norms. Therefore, study of
group dynamics has assumed greater importance in organizational behaviour. It helps in knowing how
groups are formed, why people join groups and how groups exert pressures on the individuals, groups
and management. Management can use group dynamics for better communication, effective leadership
and building high morale.

2. Motivation of Human Resources: The job of manager in an organization is to get things done
through others. He will be successful in his job when he can motivate his subordinates to work for
organizational goals. Organisational behaviour helps the manager understand the needs and desires of
the subordinates and other forces which affect their motivation. He can use suitable incentives to
motivate the subordinates.

3. Effective Communication: Behavioral sciences help in improving communication in the

organization. It is communication through which people come in contract with each other. To achieve
organizational effectiveness, the communication must be effective. The communication process and
how it works in interpersonal dynamics is evaluated by behavioral sciences. The analysis of factors
that influence communication will suggest measures to make communication effective.

4. Effective Organisational Climate: Behavioral sciences suggest the creation of organizational

climate in totally rather than merely improving the physiological conditions or increasing employee
satisfaction by isolated work-process. Satisfactory working conditions, adequate compensation, and
better equipments for the job are viewed as only a small effort in creating a sound organizational
climate. Of greater importance are the creation of an atmosphere of participative leadership, two-way
communication, the opportunities for the realizations of personal goals, congenial relations with others
at the work-place, and the like.

5. Good Human Relations: Organisational behaviour can be useful to achieve and maintain cordial
relations in the organization. If an employee is slow in his work, it is not always because of denial of
promotion or poor work environment. Similarly, if the union gives a strike call, the basic issue may
not be a demand for more wages, higher bonus, a better canteen or entertainment facilities. Reluctance
of the management to talk to union leaders about workers’ problems might provoke them to give a
strike call. In other words, relations between management and employees are quite often strained for
reasons which are psychological and not rational. Organizational behavior helps understand causes of
poor industrial relations in the organization and suggest suitable measures for their improvement.

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 6. Introduction of change in the Organization: Change is the law of nature. Organizations have also
to undergo changes as a result of technological, social, political and other environment. Changes are
often resisted by the organizational members. This problem can be successfully handled by the use of
behavioral science knowledge. Change can be introduced through group dynamics and by proper
education of employees through effective communication. The benefits of change should be
highlighted and information should be shared with all those likely to be affected by the change.

7. Marketing Management: The subject of OB is useful in the field of marketing. Consumer choice
behavior is often a critical condition, the nature of influence and the channels in involved represent
leading topics for behavior researches in this area.

1.2 LEVEL/SCOPE OF ANALYSIS IN OB

Organization Behavior focuses on three level of analysis: Individuals level, Groups level, and
organizational level. To best understand behavior in organization, OB does not focus exclusively on
individuals acting alone rather at all the three levels of analysis must be considered to fully comprehend or
understand the complex dynamics of behavior in organizations.

OB is the study of human behaviour at work in organizations. Accordingly, the scope of OB includes
the study of individuals, group and organization.

i. Individuals: Organizations are the associations of individuals. Individuals differ in many respects.
The study of individuals, therefore, includes aspects such as personality, perception, attitudes, values,
job satisfaction, learning and motivation.

ii. Groups of Individuals: Groups include aspects such as group dynamics, group conflicts,
communication, leadership, power and politics, and the like.

iii. Organization: The study of organization includes aspects such as formation of organizational
structure, culture and change and development.

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1.4 FUNDAMENTAL ASSUMPTIONS IN OB

The field of Organization Behavior is guided by two straight forward assumptions and fundamental ideas
that are widely accepted by everyone who does scientific research on OB or with experts who puts these
findings in to practices in organizations. First, OB recognizes that organizations are dynamic and ever
changing. Second, the field of OB assumes that there is no one single best ways to behave in organizations
and that different approach are called for in different situations

1. OB recognizes the dynamic nature of Organization:

Even though Organizational Behavior scientists and practitioners are interested in the behavior of people,
they also are concerned about the nature of organizations themselves. OB recognizes hat organizations are
not static but are dynamic and ever-changing entities. In other words, they recognizes that organizations
are open system- that is self-sustaining entities that uses energy to transfer resources from the
environment(raw materials, work forces) into some form of output (finished products ,wage earned)

What do we mean by open system? An open system is a characteristic of modern day thinking in the
field of organizational Behavior. It means that organizations transform inputs into out puts.

Transformation
Training
manufacturing

Inputs from Environment

Raw materials Out put to the Environment
Skilled work force WORK FORCE Products
Wage earned

SIMPLIFIED SYSEM MODEL

The above diagram shows that organizations receive inputs from their environment in the form of work
forces or raw materials, and continuously processes/ transformed it into out put through training or
manufacturing. This out put gets transferred back into inputs, and the cyclical operation will continuous.

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The dynamic nature of organizations can be associated with human body. As people breathe, they take in
O2 and transform it into CO2. This in turn, sustains the life of green plants, which in turn, emit O2 for
people to breathe. The continuous nature of the open system characterizes not only in human life but also
the existence of organizations as well.

2. OB assumes there is no :one best” approach

What is the most effective way to motivate people? What style of leadership work best?; In ancient time
the response by people for those questions was intended to find only one best approach to each of them,
but contemporary theory specialists in the field of OB argued that there is no one best approach for any
problem, the solution various depending upon the situation. A modern OB scholar embraces a contingency
approach (An orientation that recognizes that recognizes that behavior in work setting is the complex
result of many interacting forces.

Contributing Fields to Organizational Behavior

Psychology: Psychology is an applied science, which attempts to explain human behavior in a
particular situation and predicts actions of individuals. Psychologists have been able to modify
individual behavior largely with the help of various studies. It has contributed towards various theories
on learning, motivation, personality, training and development, theories on individual decision
making, leadership, job satisfaction, performance appraisal, attitude, ego state, job design, work stress
and conflict management. Studies of these theories can improve personal skills, bring change in
attitude and develop positive approach to organizational systems. Various psychological tests are
conducted in the organizations for selection of employees, measuring personality attributes and
aptitude. Various other dimensions of human personality are also measured. These instruments are
scientific in nature and have been finalized after a great deal of research. Field of psychology
continues to explore new areas applicable to the field of organizational behavior. Contribution of
psychology has enriched the organizational behavior field.

Sociology: Science of Sociology studies the impact of culture on group behavior and has contributed
to a large extent to the field of group-dynamics, roles that individual plays in the organization,
communication, norms, status, power, conflict management, formal organization theory, group
processes and group decision-making.

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Political science: Political science has contributed to the field of Organizational behavior. Stability of
government at national level is one major factor for promotion of international business, financial
investments, expansion and employment. Various government rules and regulations play a very
decisive role in growth of the organization. All organizations have to be abiding by the rules of the
government of the day.

Social psychology: Working organizations are formal assembly of people who are assigned to do
specific jobs and play a vital role in formulating human behavior. It is a subject where concept of
psychology and sociology are blend to achieve better human behavior in organization. The field has
contributed to manage change, group decision-making, communication and ability of people in the
organization, to maintain social norms.

Anthropology: It is a field of study relating to human activities in various cultural and environmental
frameworks. It understands difference in behavior based on value system of different cultures of
various countries. The study is more relevant to organizational behavior today due to globalization,
mergers and acquisitions of various industries. The advent of the 21st century has created a situation
wherein cross-cultural people will have to work in one particular industry. Managers will have to deal
with individuals and groups belonging to different ethnic cultures and exercise adequate control or
even channelize behavior in the desired direction by appropriately manipulating various cultural
factors. Organization behavior has used the studies on comparative attitudes and cross-cultural
transactions. Environment studies conducted by the field of anthropology aims to understand
organizational human behavior so that acquisitions and mergers are smooth. Organizations are bound
by its culture that is formed by human beings.

Economics study the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Students of
organizational behavior share the economist's interest in areas such as labor market dynamics,
productivity, human resource planning and forecasting, and cost-benefit analysis.

Engineering has also influenced the field of organizational behavior. Industrial engineering in
particular has long been concerned with work measurement, productivity measurement, work flow
analysis and design, job design, and labor relations.

Most recently, medicine has come into play in connection with the study of human behavior at work,
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specifically in the area of stress. Increasingly, research is showing that controlling the causes and
consequences of stress in and out of organizational settings is important for the well-being of both the
individual and the organization.

Organizational Behavior in the 21st Century

Information technology is a major force driving change. We are experiencing the rapid integration of
information across all industries everywhere, yet it is still people who invent, direct, guide, and
manage change in their own careers and in the boundary less organization. This text relates
organizational behavior topics to managing dynamic body of knowledge that can be used to
understand and manage a wide technological change as a driver of performance and integration.
“Business @ the speed of thought” is a major factor of competitive advantage. Another set of success
factors that lead to competitive advantage are developing and sustaining world-class products and
services with Internet speed and meeting and exceeding customer demand. Organizations are adapting
by reengineering, reinventing, restructuring, and rethinking their strategies, structures, and expertise
around web-based, Internet integrated business processes. Not all organizations are changing at the
same pace or on the same scale. However, internet-driven networks and software applications have
produced a type of “digital Darwinism”.

The information-based organization has knowledge workers who are specialists and who resist
command-and-control procedures based on the military model. Everyone takes responsibility in these
workplaces. Structures become flatter. Clear, simple, common objectives that lead to action are
required. Changing unified managerial vision in the organization, & devising a management structure
for task forces & ensuring the supply, preparation and testing of top management people. Finally,
because of the internationalization of business and continuous merger, acquisition, and divestiture
activities, yet another aspect of managerial work is being revised. Rosabeth Moss Kanter calls the new
managerial work and practices “post-entrepreneurial” because “they involve the application of
entrepreneurial creativity and flexibility to established businesses”. Post-entrepreneurial practices
include managers involving themselves in networks outside individual empires and thinking cross-
functionally and strategically to contribute to other faces of the business. The era of the boundary less
or seamless corporation has arrived. Emphasis is placed on developing co-operative relationships
among internal, external, and virtual teams who are part of an expanding economic (or what may
become a “Webonomic”, i.e., Internet integrated) enterprise.

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 High-performance teams are organized with empowered individuals who work creatively to add value
to their company as well as to their units. Knowledge of organizational behavior and a repertoire of
people skills are essential in building and sustaining face-to-face and virtual relationships.
1.6 VARIABLESS IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Organizational Behavior has both dependent and independent variables. A dependent variable is the key
factor you want to explain or predict and that is affected by some other factors. The primary dependent
variables in OB are: productivity, Absenteeism, Turn over, and Job satisfactions

a. Productivity:

Productivity is a common measure of how well a country, industry, or business or organizational units
is using its resources (or factor of production). It is a relative measure. It is the ratio of out puts to that of
inputs. Productivity is affected by different factors like training level, motivation, work condition and
other factors. (Chase, Jacobs & Aquilano, 2006:41)

b. Absenteeism:

It is failures to report to work. It is not easy for an organization to function well and to achieve its
objectives if employees experience absence. The work flow is disordered, and often important decisions
must be delayed. Too much absenteeism beyond the normal range in any organization has a direct
impact on the organization. But there might be situations in which the organizations may benefit if an
employee voluntarily chooses not to come to work. It may be cased by bad work condition, personality
problem, management style, etc.

c. Turn over

Turn over is the voluntary and involuntary permanent withdrawal of an employee from an organization.
An excessive turnover in an organization results in high recruiting, selection, and training costs. It can
also disrupt the efficient running of an organization when knowledgeable and experiences personnel
leave. Turnover often involves the loss of people that the organization doesn’t want to lose. When
turnover is high, or when it involves loss of valuable performers, it can be a disruptive factors that
hindering organization performance. It may become as a consequence of administration style, salary
level, organization promotion policy, etc.

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 d. Job satisfaction

Job satisfaction is the difference between the amount of reward that workers receive and the amount
they believe they should receive. Unlike the previous three variables, job satisfaction represents an
attitude towards one’s job rather than a behavior. Job satisfaction has become a primary despondent
variable for two reasons. These are:

 It is demonstrated relationship to performance factors and;

 The value preferences held by many OB researchers

THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

The independent variables are the major determinants of the dependent variables discussed above. These
variables can be categorized into three levels: individual, group, and organizational level variables.
Hereunder is brief description of these variables.

a. Individual variables:

These variables consists of personal or biographic characteristics such as age, gender, and marital status
personality characteristics , learning ,emotions, values and attitudes motivations, and basic ability levels.
These characteristics are essentially in place when an individual enters the work force, and for the most
part, there is little that management can do to change them. Yet they have a very real impact on
employee’s behavior. It is commonly accepted that aged people has less tendency to turnover and
absenteeism; and married person has less tendency to turnover and absenteeism than unmarried persons

b. Group level variables

The behavior of people in group is more than the aggregation of all the individuals acting in their own
way. The complexity of OB model is increase when one acknowledges that people’s behavior when they
are in groups in different from their behavior when they are alone. Group formation and its dynamics,
design of effective teams, communication patterns, leadership and politics, and levels of conflict that
affect group behavior are examples of group level variables.

c. Organization system level variables

When formal structure is added to the previous knowledge of individual and group behavior obtained,
organizational behavior reaches its highest level of difficulty. Just as groups are more than the sum of

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their individuals’ members, organizations are more than the internal culture, and the organization’s
human resources policies and practices all have an impact on the dependent variables.

1.7 Historical development of organizational Behavior

Human being and organized activities have been around for thousands of year, but we do not need to
go back beyond the eighteenth or nineteenth century to find OB’s roots. Thus, we will just try to see
historical development of Organizational Behavior during: pre-classical, classical [Scientific
Management of Taylor, Administrative Management of Fayol, and Bureaucratic Model of Max Weber]
Neo classical and modern theories [system &contingency] OB.

1.7.1 Pre-scientific classical Period

The advent of industrial revolution in the middle of the 18th century had its impact on management.
Industrial revolution brought about a complete change in the methods of production, tools and
equipments, organization of labor and methods of raising capital. Employees went to their work instead
of receiving it, and so, the factory system, as it is known today, become a dominant feature of the
economy. Under this system, land and buildings, hired labor, and capital are made available to the
entrepreneur, who strives to combine these factors in the efficient achievement of a particular goal. All
these changes, in turn, brought about changes in the field of management. Traditional, conventional or
customary ideas of management were slowly given up and management came to be based on scientific
principles. In the words of L. F. Urwick - "Modern management has thrown open a new branch of
human knowledge, a fresh universe of discourse". During the period following the industrial revolution,
certain pioneers tried to challenge the traditional character of management by introducing new ideas and
character of management by introducing new ideas and approaches. There were many contributors, but
the notable contributors of this period are Adam smith, Charles Babbage, and Robert Owner:

A. Adam smith (1776)

He was the first economics who included a brilliant argument on the economic advantage of
organizations and society would obtain from the division of labor which he called work specialization.
He concluded that division of labor increases productivity of organization by increasing workers

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dexterity (skill), by saving time that is commonly lost in changing tasks and by encouraging the creation
of labor saving inventions and machinery.

B. Charles Babbage (UK 1729 -1871):

He was a Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Prof Babbage found that manufacturers
made little use of science and mathematics, and that they (manufacturers) relied upon opinions instead
of investigations and accurate knowledge. He felt that the methods of science and mathematics could be
applied to the solution of methods in the place of guess work for the solution of business problems. He
advocated the use of accurate observations, measurement and precise knowledge for taking business
decisions. He urged the management of an enterprise, on the basis of accurate data obtained through
rigid investigation, the desirability of finding out the number of times each operation is repeated each
hour, the dividing of work into mental and physical efforts, the determining of the precise cost for every
process and the paying of a bonus to the workers in proportion to his own efficiency and the success of
enterprise. In short, he expanded the idea of division of labor articulated by Adam Smith. He added the
following to Adam Smith’s list of the advantage that accrue from division of labor:

 It reduces the time needed for learning a job

 It reduces the wastage of materials during the learning period

 It allow for the attainment of high skill levels

 It allows a more careful matching of people’s skills and physicals abilities with specific tasks.

C. Robert Owens (UK 1771 - 1858):

Robert Owens, the promoter of co-operative and trade union movement in England, emphasized the
recognition of human element in industry. He firmly believed that workers' performance in industry was
influenced by the working conditions and treatment of workers. He introduced new ideas of human
relations - shorter working hours, housing facilities, training of workers in hygiene, education of their
children, provision of canteen etc. Robert Owen, managed group of textile mills in Lanark, Scotland,
where he used his ideas of human relations. Though his approach was paternalistic, he came to be
regarded as the father of Personnel Management.

He is important in historical development of OB because, he was one of the first industrialists to

recognize how the growing factory system was demeaning/humble/undermining to workers. He was not

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 comfort with harsh practices he saw in factories: such as, the employment of children, extended working
days and hour, miserable working condition. Owen was not simply opposing those things, but by
opposing such harsh events, he becomes a reformer who tried to change the harsh practices in factories.
He criticized them (factory owners) for the followings:

 For treating their equipment better than their employees

 For buying best machine but then using the cheapest labor to run them.

He proposed a utopian work place that would reduce the suffering of the working class. He was more
than hindered years a head of his time when he argued in 1825 for regulated hours of work for all, child
labor law, public education, company furnished meals at work place, and business involvement in
community project.

1.7. 2. Classical era

The classical era covered the period from about 1900 to the mid of 1930s. It was during this period that
the first general theories of management began to evolve. Frederick Taylor, Henri Fayol, Max Weber,
Marry Parker Follet, and Chester Barnard laid the foundation for contemporary management practices.

Features of Management in the Classical Period:

1. It was closely associated with the industrial revolution and the rise of large-scale enterprise.

2. Classical organization and management theory is based on contributions from a number of

sources. They are scientific management, Administrative management theory, bureaucratic model, and
micro-economics and public administration.

3. Management thought focused on job content division of labor, standardization, simplification and
specialization and scientific approach towards organization.

A. Taylor's Scientific Management:

He rose to be the chief engineer at the Midvale Engineering Works and later on served with the Bethlehem
Works where he experimented with his ideas and made the contribution to the management theory for which
he is so well known. Frederick Winslow Taylor well-known as the founder of scientific management was
the first to recognize and emphasis the need for adopting a scientific approach to the task of managing an
enterprise. He tried to diagnose the causes of low efficiency in industry and came to the conclusion that

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much of waste and inefficiency is due to the lack of order and system in the methods of management. He
found that the management was usually ignorant of the amount of work that could be done by a worker in a
day as also the best method of doing the job. As a result, it remained largely at the mercy of the workers
who deliberately shirked work. He therefore, suggested that those responsible for management should adopt
scientific approach in their work, and make use of "scientific method" for achieving higher efficiency. The
scientific method consists essentially of Observation, Measurement, Experimentation and Inference.

He advocated a thorough planning of the job by the management and emphasized the necessity of perfect
understanding and co-operation between the management and the workers both for the enlargement of
profits and the use of scientific investigation and knowledge in industrial work. He summed up his approach
in these words:

 Science, not rule of thumb

 Harmony, not discord

 Co-operation, not individualism

 Maximum output, in place of restricted output

 The development of each man to his greatest efficiency and prosperity.

Elements of Scientific Management:

The techniques which Taylor regarded as its essential elements or features may be classified as
under:

1. Scientific Task and Rate-setting, work improvement, etc.

2. Planning the Task.

3. Vocational Selection and Training

4. Standardization (of working conditions, material equipment etc.)

5. Specialization

6. Mental Revolution.

Benefits of Scientific Management:

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Taylor's ideas, research and recommendations brought into focus technological, human and organizational
issues in industrial management. Benefits of Taylor's scientific management included wider scope for
specialization, accurate planning, timely delivery, standardized methods, better quality, lesser costs,
minimum wastage of materials, time and energy and cordial relations between management and workers.
According to Gilberts, the main benefits of scientific management are "conservation and savings, making an
adequate use of every one’s energy of any type that is expended". The benefits of scientific management
are:-

(a) Replacement of traditional rule of thumb method by scientific techniques.

(b) Proper selection and training of workers.

(c) Incentive wages to the workers for higher production.

(d) Elimination of wastes and rationalization of system of control.

(e) Standardization of tools, equipment, materials and work methods.

(f) Detailed instructions and constant guidance of the workers.

(g) Establishment of harmonious relationship between the workers.

(h) Better utilization of various resources.

(i) Satisfaction of the needs of the customers by providing higher quality products at lower prices.

Taylor proposed four principles of management:

1. Develop a science for each element of an individuals work: previously, workers used
the rule of thumb methods.

2. Employees be carefully selected and then train, teach, and develop to perform their job;
previously workers chose their own work and trained themselves as best as they could.

3. Managers should heartily cooperate with so as to ensure that all work to ensure that all
work is done in accordance with the principles of the science that has been developed.
Previously, management and workers were in continuous conflict.

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 4. Divide work responsibility between management and workers. Management takes overall
work for which is better suited than the workers. Previously, almost all the work and
greater part of the responsibilities were thrown upon the workers.

Criticism

1. Worker's Criticism:

(a) Speeding up of workers: Scientific Management is only a device to speedup the workers without
much regard for their health and well-being.

(b) Loss of individual worker's initiative: Scientific Management reduces workers to automatic
machine by taking away from them the function of thinking.

(c) Problem of monotony: By separating the function of planning and thinking from that of doing,
Scientific Management reduces work to mere routine.

(d) Reduction of Employment: Scientific Management creates unemployment and hits the workers
hard.

(e) Weakening of Trade Unions: Under Scientific Management, the important issues of wages and
working conditions are decided by the management through scientific investigation and the trade unions
may have little say in the matter.

(f) Exploitation of workers: Scientific Management improves productivity through the agency of
workers and yet they are given a very small share of the benefit of such improvement.

2. Employer's Criticism:

(a) Heavy Investment: It requires too heavy an investment. The employer has to meet the extra cost
of the planning department though the foreman in this department do not work in the workshop and
directly contribute towards higher production.

(b) Loss due to re-organization: The introduction of Scientific Management requires a virtual
reorganization of the whole set-up of the industrial unit. Work may have to be suspended to complete
such re-organization.

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 (c) Unsuitable for small scale firms: various measures like the establishment of a separate personnel
department and the conducting of time and motion studies are too expensive for a small or modest size
industrial unit.

3. Administrative Management/ Organization Theory:

Henry Fayol was the most important exponent of this theory. The pyramidal form, scalar principle, unity of
command, exception principle, span of control and departmentalization are some of the important concepts
set forth by Fayol and his followers like Mooney and Reiley, Simon, Urwick, Gullick etc.

Henry Fayol (France, 1841 - 1925):

Henry Fayol was born in 1941 at Constantinople in France. He graduated as a mining engineer in 1860 from
the National School of Mining. After his graduation; he joined a French Coal Mining Company as an
Engineer. After a couple of years, he was promoted as manager. He was appointed as General Manager of
his Company in 1888. At that time, the company suffered heavy losses and was nearly bankrupt. Henry
Fayol succeeded in converting his company from near bankruptcy to a strong financial position and a record
of profits and dividends over a long period.

Concept of Management: Henry Fayol is considered the father of modern theory of general and industrial
management. He divided general and industrial management into six groups:

1. Technical activities - Production, manufacture, adaptation.

2. Commercial activities - buying, selling and exchange.

3. Financial activities - search for and optimum use of capital.

4. Security activities - protection of property and persons.

5. Accounting activities - stock-taking, balance sheet, cost, and statistics.

6. Managerial activities - planning, organization, command, co- ordination and control.

These six functions had to be performed to operate successfully any kind of business. He, however, pointed
out that the last function i.e., ability to manage, was the most important for upper levels of managers.

The process of management as an ongoing managerial cycle involving planning, organizing, directing, co-
ordination, and controlling, is actually based on the analysis of general management by Fayol. Hence, it is

20
said that Fayol established the pattern of management thought and practice. Even today, management
process has general recognition.

Fayol's Principles of Management: The principles of management are given below:

1. Division of work: Division of work or specialization alone can give maximum productivity and
efficiency. Both technical and managerial activities can be performed in the best manner only
through division of labor and specialization.

2. Authority and Responsibility: The right to give order is called authority. The obligation to
accomplish is called responsibility. Authority and Responsibility are the two sides of the
management coin. They exist together. They are complementary and mutually interdependent.

3. Discipline: The objectives, rules and regulations, the policies and procedures must be honored by
each member of an organization. There must be clear and fair agreement on the rules and objectives,
on the policies and procedures. There must be penalties (punishment) for non-obedience or
indiscipline. No organization can work smoothly without discipline - preferably voluntary discipline.

4. Unity of Command: In order to avoid any possible confusion and conflict, each member of an
organization must received orders and instructions only from one superior (boss).

5. Unity of Direction: All members of an organization must work together to accomplish common
objectives.

6. Emphasis on Subordination of Personal Interest to General or Common Interest: This is also

called principle of co-operation. Each shall work for all and all for each. General or common interest
must be supreme in any joint enterprise.

7. Remuneration: Fair pay with non-financial rewards can act as the best incentive or motivator for
good performance. Exploitation of employees in any manner must be eliminated. Sound scheme of
remuneration includes adequate financial and non financial incentives.

8. Centralization: There must be a good balance between centralization and decentralization of

authority and power. Extreme centralization and decentralization must be avoided.

9. Scalar Chain: The unity of command brings about a chain or hierarchy of command linking all
members of the organization from the top to the bottom. Scalar denotes steps.

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 10. Order: Fayol suggested that there is a place for everything. Order or system alone can create a
sound organization and efficient management.

11. Equity: An organization consists of a group of people involved in joint effort. Hence, equity (i.e.,
justice) must be there. Without equity, we cannot have sustained and adequate joint collaboration.

12. Stability of Tenure: A person needs time to adjust himself with the new work and demonstrate
efficiency in due course. Hence, employees and managers must have job security. Security of
income and employment is a pre-requisite of sound organization and management.

13. Esprit of Co-operation: Esprit de corps is the foundation of a sound organization. Union is
strength. But unity demands co-operation. Pride, loyalty and sense of belonging are responsible for
good performance.

14. Initiative: Creative thinking and capacity to take initiative can give us sound managerial
planning and execution of predetermined plans.

1.7. 3. Bureaucratic Model:

While Taylor was concerned with management at the individual level and Fayol focused on general
management functions the German sociologist; Max Weber was developing a theory of authority structures
and describing organizational activities as based on authority relation. His model is called the bureaucratic
model. His model of bureaucracy includes:

1. Hierarchy of authority: offices or positions are organized in hierarchy, each lower one
being controlled and supervised by a higher one and vise versa.

2. Division of labor based upon functional specialization: Jobs are broken down into
simple, routine and well defined form.

3. A system of rules and work procedures: To unsure uniformity and regulate the action
of each workers, there must be formal rules and regulation.

4. Impersonality of interpersonal relationships: In organization, rules and control are

applied uniformly, avoiding involvement with personalities and personal preference.

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 5. Placement of employees based upon technical competence (formal selection): All
organization members are to be selected on the basis of technical qualification
demonstrated by training, education and examination.

6. Carrier orientation: Managers are professional officials rather than owners of the unit
they manage. They work for fixed salary and pursue carrier with organization.

Bureaucracy provides a rigid model of an organization. It does not account for important human
elements. The features of Bureaucracy are:-

 Rigidity, impersonality and higher cost of controls.

 Anxiety due to pressure of conformity to rules and procedure.

 Dependence on superior.

 Tendency to forget ultimate goals of the organization.

Bureaucratic Model is preferred where change is not anticipated or where rate of change can be predicated.
It is followed in government departments and in large business organizations.

1.7.4. Neoclassical Theory

Neo-classical Theory is built on the base of classical theory. It modified, improved and extended the
classical theory. Classical theory concentrated on job content and management of physical resources
whereas, neoclassical theory gave greater emphasis to individual and group relationship in the workplace.
The neo- classical theory pointed out the role of psychology and sociology in the understanding of
individual and group behavior in an organization.

Hawthorne Experiment (1927-1932)

In 1927, a group of researchers led by Elton Mayo and Fritz Roethlisberger of the Harvard Business School
were invited to join in the studies at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Company, Chicago. The
experiment lasted up to1932. The Hawthorne Experiments The experiment consists of four parts:
Illumination Experiment, Relay Assembly Test Room Experiment, Interviewing Program, and Bank Wiring
Test Room Experiment, and brought out that the productivity of the employees is not the function of only
physical conditions of work and money wages paid to them. Productivity of employees depends heavily
upon the satisfaction of the employees in their work situation. Mayo's idea was that logical factors were far

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less important than emotional factors in determining productivity efficiency. Furthermore, of all the human
factors influencing employee behavior, the most powerful were those emanating from the worker's
participation in social groups. Thus, Mayo concluded that work arrangements in addition to meeting the
objective requirements of production must at the same time satisfy the employee's subjective requirement of
social satisfaction at his work place.

Contributions of the Hawthorne Experiment:

Elton Mayo and his associates conducted their studies in the Hawthorne plant of the western
electrical company, U.S.A., between1927 and 1930. According to them, behavioral science methods
have many areas of application in management. The important features of the Hawthorne
Experiment are:-

1. A business organization is basically a social system. It is not just a techno-economic system.

2. The employer can be motivated by psychological and social wants because his behavior is also
influenced by feelings, emotions and attitudes. Thus economic incentives are not the only method to
motivate people.

3. Management must learn to develop co-operative attitudes and not rely merely on command.

4. Participation becomes an important instrument in human relations movement. In order to achieve

participation, effective two-way communication network is essential.

5. Productivity is linked with employee satisfaction in any business organization. Therefore

management must take greater interest in employee satisfaction.

6. Group psychology plays an important role in any business organization. We must therefore rely
more on informal group effort.

7. The neo-classical theory emphasizes that man is a living machine and he is far more important
than the inanimate machine. Hence, the key to higher productivity lies in employee morale. High
morale results in higher output.

1.7.4.1. Elements of Behavioral Theory:

There are three elements of behavioral theory.

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1. The Individual: The neoclassical theory emphasized that individual differences must be recognized. An
individual has feelings, emotions, perception and attitude. Each person is unique. He brings to the job
situation certain attitudes, beliefs and ways of life, as well as skills. He has certain meaning of his job, his
supervision, working conditions etc. The inner world of the worker is more important than the external
reality in the determination of productivity. Thus human relations at work determine the rise or fall in
productivity. Therefore human relationists advocate the adoption of multidimensional model of motivation
which is based upon economic, individual and social factors.

2. Work Groups: Workers are not isolated; they are social beings and should be treated as such by
management. The existence of informal organization is natural. The neo-classical theory describes the vital
effects of group psychology and behavior on motivation and productivity.

3. Participative Management: The emergence of participative management is inevitable when emphasis is

laid on individual and work groups. Allowing labor to participate indecision making primarily to increase
productivity was a new form of supervision. Management now welcomes worker participation in planning
job contents and job operations. Neoclassical theory focuses its attention on workers. Plant layout,
machinery, tool etc., must offer employee convenience and facilities. Therefore, neoclassical approach is
trying to satisfy personal security and social needs of workers. Human relationists made very significant
contribution to management thought by bringing into limelight human and social factors in organizations.
But their concepts were carried beyond an appropriate limit. There are many other factors which influence
productivity directly. Modern management thought wants equal emphasis on man and machine and we can
evolve appropriate man- machine system to secure both goals – productivity and satisfaction.

Limitations of Human Relations Approach:-

 The human religionists drew conclusions from Hawthorne studies. These conclusions are
based on clinical insight rather than on scientific evidence.

 The study tends to overemphasize the psychological aspects at the cost of the structural and
technical aspects.

 It is assumed that all organizational problems are amenable to solutions through human
relations. This assumption does not hold well in practice.

 The human religionists saw only the human variables as critical and ignored other variables.

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  The human religionists overemphasize the group and group decision-making. But in practice,
groups may create problems and collective decision-making may not be possible.

1.7.5. Modern Theory

6.1. (System Approach)

The systems approach to management indicates the fourth major theory of management thought called
modern theory. Modern theory considers an organization as an adaptive system which has to adjust to
changes in its environment. An organization is now defined as a structured process in which individuals
interact for attaining objectives.

Meaning of "System": The word system is derived from the Greek word meaning to bring together or to
combine. A system is a set of interconnected and inter-related elements or component parts to achieve
certain goals. A system has three significant parts:

1. Every system is goal-oriented and it must have a purpose or objective to be attained.

2. In designing the system we must establish the necessary arrangement of components.

3. Inputs of information, material and energy are allocated for processing as per plan so that the outputs can
achieve the objective of the system.

Systems Approach Applied to an Organization:

When systems approach is applied to organization, we have the following features of an organization as an
open adaptive system:-

1. It is a sub-system of its broader environment.

2. It is a goal-oriented – people with a purpose.

3. It is a technical subsystem – using knowledge, techniques, equipment and facilities.

4. It is a structural subsystem – people working together on interrelated activities.

5. It is a psychosocial system – people in social relationships.

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 6. It is co-ordinate by a managerial sub system, creating, planning, organizing, motivating, communicating
and controlling the overall efforts directed towards set goals.

Characteristics of Modern OB Thought:

1. The Systems Approach: An organization as a system has five basic parts -

(1) Input (4) Feedback and

(2) Process 5) Environment.

(3) Output

It draws upon the environment for inputs to produce certain desirable outputs. The success of these outputs
can be judged by means of feedback. If necessary, we have to modify out mix of inputs to produce as per
changing demands.

2. Dynamic: We have a dynamic process of interaction occurring within the structure of an

organization. The equilibrium of an organization and its structure is itself dynamic or changing.

3. Multilevel and Multidimensional: Systems approach points out complex multilevel and
multidimensional character. We have both a micro and macro approach. Accompany is micro within
a business system. It is macro with respect to its own internal units. Within a company as a system
we have:-

(1) Production subsystem (3) Marketing subsystem

(2) Finance subsystem (4) Personnel subsystem.

All parts or components are interrelated. Both parts as well as the whole are equally important. At all levels,
organizations interact in many ways.

4. Multimotivated: Classical theory assumed a single objective, for instance, profit. Systems approach
recognizes that there may be several motivations behind our actions and behavior. Management has to
compromise these multiple objectives: - economic objectives and social objectives.

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5. Multidisciplinary: Systems approach integrates and uses with profit ideas emerging from different schools
of thought. Management freely draws concepts and techniques from many fields of study such as psychology,
social psychology, sociology, ecology, economics, mathematics, etc.

6. Multivariable: It is assumed that there is no simple cause-effect phenomenon. An event may be the result
of so many factors which themselves are interrelated and interdependent. Some factors are controllable, some
uncontrollable. Intelligent planning and control are necessary to face these variable factors.

7. Adaptive: The survival and growth of an organization in a dynamic environment demands an adaptive
system which can continuously adjust to changing conditions. An organization is an open system adapting
itself through the process of feedback.

8. Probabilistic: Management principles point out only probability and never the certainty of performance and
the consequent results. We have to face so many variables simultaneously. Our forecasts are mere tendencies.
Therefore, intelligent forecasting and planning can reduce the degree of uncertainty to a considerable extent.

Contingency Theory:

Systems approach emphasizes that all sub- systems of an organization along with the super system of
environment are interconnected and interrelated. Contingency approach analysis and understands these
interrelationship so that managerial actions can be adjusted to demands of specific situations or
circumstances. Thus the contingency approach enables us to evolve practical answers to problems
demanding solutions. Organization design and managerial actions most appropriate to specific situations
will have to be adopted to achieve the best possible result under the given situation. There is no one best
way (as advocated by Taylor) to organize and manage. Thus, Contingency Approach to management
emphasizes the fact that management is a highly practice-oriented discipline. It is the basic function of
managers to analyses and understands the environments in which they function before adopting their
techniques, processes and practices. The application of management principles and practices should
therefore be continent upon the existing circumstances. Contingency approach guides the manager to be
adaptive to environment. It tells the manager to be pragmatic and open minded. The contingency approach
is an improvement over the systems approach. It not only examines the relationships between sub-systems
of the organization, but also the relationship between the organization and its environment.

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However, the contingency approach suffers from two limitations:-

1. It does not recognize the influence of management concepts and techniques on environment.

2. Literature on contingency management is yet not adequate.

1.2-5. Virtual Organization

Virtual Organization popularly known as ‘E’ Organization will have the following characteristics:
1. There are no generally accepted rules. There are no established and proven e-org models or
strategic plans. What worked in March may be scrapped in May. E-orgs in their infancy and
players are being forced to experiment.

2. Victory goes to the quick. Fast to no longer fast enough. It used to be that the big would eat
the small. In an e-word, the fast eat the slow. Competition is forcing e-organizations to make
decisions quickly, develop new products and service in record time, move into market fast, and
be able to respond to competitive actions immediately. The old saw “Ready, Aim, Fire” has
been replaced by “Fire, Ready, Aim”.

3. Location doesn’t matter. In the past, the people you hired, the suppliers you used, and the
customers you serviced were largely defined by your geographic location. For instance, you
hired from the labor pool from Bangalore to New Delhi or tried to entire prospective
employees to move from where they lived to where your organization was located. Now,
through network linkages, employers in remote locations can have access to the best and
brightest. And talented people no longer have to move their residence to pursue job
opportunities in faraway places.

4. Integrated information is everything. Intranets, extranets and the internet have changed the
way that information can move inside organizations. Open and integrated information systems
allow bypassing of traditional organizational hierarchies; making it easy for employees and
managers alike to track projects, democratizing internal decision making; and closely linking
organizations to their suppliers, partners, and customers.
Chaper Questions

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 1. Explain the different contributing fields of Organizational Behaviour
2. “OB is an applied science” explain the statement with real life examples
3. Organizational Behaviour is anintersting and challenging at the same time briefly
explain the rastional behind so.
4. Organizational Behaviour is the study and application of behaviour on organizations
A. True B. Fales
5. Which one of the following is not the importance of OB
A. It has humanstic and optimistic approach to people B. it is
normative science C. it has its own theoretical and Phyilosophical
foundstion D. it is applied science

CHAPTER TWO

FOUNDATION OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR

Chapter Objectives

Define understand the different individual differences

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Analyze the effect of individual behaviour at work

Analyze the implication of individual behaviour at work

2.1 Perception

Definition of Perception

Perception is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information about others to gain an
accurate understanding of them. Although perception depends on largely upon the senses for raw data, the
cognitive process may filter, modify, or completely change these data.

Perception involves the way we view the world around us. It adds, meaning to formation gathered via the five
senses of touch, smell, hearing, vision and taste. Perception is the primary vehicle through which we come to
understand our surroundings and ourselves. Perception can be defined as a process by which individuals
organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment.

Perception is defined as “a process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in
order to give meaning to their environment (Robbins)”.

Why is the study perception important?

Simply because people's behavior is based on their perception of what reality is, not on reality itself? Virtually
all management activities rely on perception. In appraising performance, managers use their perceptions of an
employee's behavior as a basis for the evaluation. One work situation that highlights the importance of
perception is the selection interview. Perception is also culturally determined. Based on our cultural
backgrounds, we tend to perceive things in certain ways.

Thus, perception is the primary vehicle through which we come to understand our surroundings and ourselves.
Social perception is the process of interpreting information about another person. Social perception is directly
concerned with how one individual perceives other individuals. Formal organization participants constantly
perceive one another. Managers are perceiving workers, workers perceive managers, line personnel perceive
staff personnel, staff personnel perceive line personnel, superiors perceive subordinates, and subordinates are

31
perceiving superiors and so on. There are numerous complex factors that enter into such social perception, but
the primary factors are found in the psychological process and personality.

FACTORS INFLUENCING PERCEPTION

A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors are:

1. in the perceiver
2. In the object or target being perceived or
3. in the context of the situation in which the perception is made.

1 Characteristics of the Perceiver

Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. When an individual looks at a target and
attempts to interpret what he or she, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of
individual perceiver. The major characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are:

 Attitudes: The perceiver's attitudes affect perception. For example, suppose Mr.X is interviewing
candidates for a very important position in his organization – a position that requires negotiating
contracts with suppliers, most of whom are male. Mr X may feel that women are not capable of
holding their own in tough negotiations. This attitude will doubtless affect his perceptions of the
female candidates he interviews.
 Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think differently
when we are happy than we do when we are depressed. In addition, we remember information that is
consistent with our mood state better than information that is inconsistent with our mood state. When
in a positive mood, we form more positive impression of others. When in a negative mood, we tend to
evaluate others unfavorably.
 Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence on their
perceptions. For example, in an organizational context, a boss who is insecure perceives a
subordinate's efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat to his or her own position. Personal insecurity
can be transferred into the perception that others are out to "get my job", regardless of the intention of
the subordinates.
 Self-Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceivers’ self-concept. An
individual with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another person. In contrast,
32
 a negative self-concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits in another person. Greater
understanding of self allows us to have more accurate perceptions of others.
 Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our interests. Because our individual
interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a situation can differ from what others
perceive. For example, the supervisor who has just been reprimanded by his boss for coming late is
more likely to notice his colleagues coming late tomorrow than he did last week. If you are
preoccupied with a personal problem, you may find it hard to be attentive in class.
 Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects perception.
Some people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and appearance, more
readily. Others tend to focus more on central traits, or personality dispositions. Cognitive complexity
allows a person to perceive multiple characteristics of another person rather than attending to just a
few traits.
 Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your perceptions in that you will see what you expect
to see.
2 Characteristics of the Target/observed

Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect what is perceived. Physical appearance plays a
big role in our perception of others. Extremely attractive or unattractive individuals are more likely to be
noticed in a group than ordinary liking individuals. Motion, sound, size and other attributes of a target shape
the way we see it. Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The perceiver will notice
the target's physical features like height, weight, estimated age, race and gender. Perceivers tend to notice
physical appearance characteristics that contrast with the norm, that are intense, or that are new or unusual.
Physical attractiveness often colors our entire impression of another person. Interviewers rate attractive
candidates more favorably and attractive candidates are awarded higher starting salaries.

Verbal communication from targets also affects our perception of them. We listen to the topics they speak
about, their voice tone, and their accent and make judgments based on this input.

Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. The perceiver deciphers eye
contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all in an attempt to form an impression of the target.
The perceiver, who observes the target's behavior, infers the intentions of the target. For example, if our
manager comes to our office doorway, we think "oh no! He is going to give me more work to do". Or we may
perceive that his intention is to congratulate us on a recent success. In any case, the perceiver's interpretation
of the target's intentions affects the way the perceiver views the target. Targets are not looked at in isolation,

33
the relationship of a target to its background influences perception because of our tendency to group close
things and similar things together. Objects that are close to each other will tend to be perceived together rather
than separately. As a result of physical or time proximity, we often put together objects or events that are
unrelated. For examples, employees in a particular department are seen as a group. If two employees of a
department suddenly resign, we tend to assume their departures were related when in fact, they might be
totally unrelated. People, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped together. The
greater the similarity, the greater the probability we will tend to perceive them as a group.

3 Characteristics of the Situation

The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place has an influence on the
perceiver's impression of the target. For example, a professor may not notice his 20-year-old female student in
a bikini at the swimming pool. Yet the professor will notice the same girl if she comes to his organizational
behavior class in a bikini. In the same way, meeting a manager in his or her office affects your impression in a
certain way that may contrast with the impression you would form had you met the manager in a restaurant.

The strength of the situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations provide strong cues as to
appropriate behavior. In these situations, we assume that the individual’s behavior can be accounted for by the
situation, and that it may not reflect the individual’s disposition. This is the discounting principle in social
perception. For example, you may encounter an automobile salesperson that has a warm and personable
manner, asks you about your work and hobbies, and seems genuinely interested in your taste in cars. Can you
assume that this behavior reflects the salesperson's personality? You probably cannot, because of the influence
of the situation. This person is trying to sell you a car, and in this particular situation he probably treats all
customers in this manner.

Perceiving and interpreting what others do is burdensome. As a result, individuals develop techniques for
making the task more manageable. These techniques are not foolproof. Several factors lead us to form
inaccurate impressions of others. These barriers to perception are inaccurate impressions of others.

Barriers/distortions to perception

1. Selective Perception: We receive a vast amount of information. Therefore, it is impossible for us to

assimilate everything we see - on eye certain stimuli can be taken. That is why their boss may reprimand some
employees for doing something that when done by another employee goes unnoticed. Since, we can't observe
everything going on about us, we engage in selective reception.

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Selective perception is also out tendency to choose information that supports our viewpoints; Individuals
often ignore information that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatens their viewpoints.

Selective perception allows us to "speed-read" others, but not without the risk of drawing an inaccurate
picture. Because we see what we want to see, we can draw unwarranted conclusions from an ambiguous;
perception tends to be influenced more by an individual's attitudes, interests, and background than by the
stimulus itself.

2. Stereotype: A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people. When we judge someone on the basis
of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs, we are using the shortcut called stereotyping.
Stereotypes reduce information about other people to a workable level, and they are efficient for compiling
and using information. It is a means of simplifying a complex world and it permits us to maintain consistency.
It is less difficult to deal with an unmanageable number of stimuli if we use stereotypes. Stereotypes can be
accurate, and when they are accurate, they can be useful perceptual guidelines. Attractiveness is a powerful
stereotype. We assume that attractive individuals are also warm, kind, sensitive, poised, sociable, outgoing,
independent, and strong. Are attractive people sociable, outgoing, independent, and strong? Are attractive
people really like this? Certainly all of them are not.

In organizations, we frequently hear comments that represent stereotypes based on gender, age, nationality
etc. From a perceptual standpoint, if people expect to see this stereotype, that is what they will perceive,
whether it's accurate or not.

3. Halo Effect: The halo error in perception is very similar to stereotyping. Whereas in stereotyping the
person is perceived according to a single category, under the halo effect the person is perceived on the basis of
one trait. When we draw a general impression about an individual based on a single characteristic, such as
intelligence, sociability or appearance, a halo effect is operating. The propensity for the halo effect to operate
is not random. Research suggests it is likely to be most extreme when the traits to be perceived are ambiguous
in behavioral terms, when the traits have moral overtones, and when the perceiver is judging traits with which
he or she has limited experience. Example of halo effect is the extremely attractive women secretary who is
perceived by her male boss as being an intelligent, good performer, when, in fact, she is a poor typist.

4. First-impression error: Individuals place a good deal of importance on first impressions. First impressions
are lasting impressions. We tend to remember what we perceive first about a person, and sometimes we are
quite reluctant to change our initial impressions. First-impression error means the tendency to form lasting
opinions about an individual based on initial perceptions. Primacy effects can be particularly dangerous in

35
interviews, given that we form first impressions quickly and that these impressions may be the basis for long-
term employment relationships.

5. Contrast Effect: Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding environment are more likely to be selected for
attention than the stimuli that blends in. A contrasting effect can be caused by color, size or any other factor
that is unusual (any factor that distinguishes one stimulus from others at present). For example, a man walking
down the street with a pair of crutches is more attention getting than a common man. A contrast effect is the
evaluation of a person's characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other people recently
encountered that rank higher or lower on the same characteristics. The "contrast" principle essentially states
that external stimuli that stands out against the background or which are not what are expecting well receive
their attention. The contrast effect also explains why a male student stands out in a crowd of female students.
There is nothing unusual about the male students but, when surrounded by females, he stands out.

An illustration of how contrast effects operate in an interview situation in which one sees a pool of job
applicants. Distortions in any given candidate's evaluation can occur as a result of his or her place in the
interview schedule. The candidate is likely to receive a more favorable evaluation if preceded by mediocre
applicants, and a less favorable evaluation if preceded by strong applicants.

6. Projection: It is easy to judge others if we assume they are similar to us. This tendency to attribute one's
own characteristics to other people is called projection. Projection can distort perceptions made about others.
People who engage in projection tend to perceive others. According to what they are like rather than
according to what the person being observed is really like. When managers engage in projection, they
compromise their ability to respond to individual differences. They tend to see people as more homogeneous
than they really are.

7. Implicit Personality Theories: We tend to have our own mini-theories about how people look and behave.
These theories help us organize our perceptions and take shortcuts instead of integrating new information all
the time. Implicit-personality theory is opinions formed about other people that are based on our own mini
theories about how people behave. For example we believe that girls dressed in fashionable clothes will like
modern music and girls dressed in traditional dress likes agree will like Indian classical music. These implicit
personality theories are barriers because they limit out ability to take in new information when it is available.

8. Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Self-fulfilling prophecies are the situation in which our expectations about
people affect our interaction with them in such a way that our expectations are fulfilled. Self-fulfilling

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prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion effect, named after a sculptor in Greek mythology who carved a
statue of a girl that came to life when he prayed for this wish and it was granted.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS OF PERCEPTION

People in organizations are always judging each other. Managers must appraise their subordinate’s
performance. In many cases, these judgments have important consequences for the organizations. Let us look
at the more obvious applications of perceptions in organization.

1. Employment Interview: A major input into who is hired and who is rejected in any organization is the
employment interview. Evidence indicated that interviewers often make inaccurate perceptual judgments.
Interviews generally draw early impressions that become very quickly entrenched. If negative information is
exposed early in the interview, it tends to be more heavily weighted than if that same information comes out
later. As a result, information elicited early in the interview carries greater weight than does information
elicited later. A "good applicant" is probably characterized more by the absence of unfavorable characteristics
than by the presence of favorable characteristics.

The employment interview is an important input into the hiring decision and manager must recognize that
perceptual factors influence that is hired. Therefore, eventually the quality of an organization's labor force
depends on the perception of the interviewers.

2. Performance Evaluation: An employee's performance appraisal very much depends on the perceptual
process. The performance appraisal represents an assessment of an employee's work. While this can be
objective, many jobs are evaluated in subjective terms. Subjective measures are, by definition, judgmental.
The evaluator forms a general impression of an employee's work. What the evaluator perceives to be "good"
or "bad" employee characteristics will, significantly influences the appraisal outcome. An employee's future is
closely tied to his or her appraisal -promotions, pay raises and continuation of employment are among the
most obvious outcomes.

3. Performance Expectations: A manager's expectations of an individual affect both the manager's behavior
towards the individual and the individual's response. An impressive amount of evidence demonstrates that
people will attempt to validate their perceptions of reality, even when these perceptions are faulty. This is
particularly relevant when we consider performance expectations on the job. The term self-fulfilling prophecy
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or Pygmalion effects have evolved to characterize the fact that people's expectations determine their behavior.
Managers can harness the power of the Pygmalion effect to improve productivity in the organization. It
appears that high expectations of individuals come true. Managers can extend these high expectations of
individuals to an entire group. When a manager expects positive things from a group, the group delivers.
Similarly, if a manager expects people to perform minimally, they will tend to behave so as to meet these low
expectations. Thus, the expectations become reality.

4. Employee Loyalty: Another important judgment that managers make about employees is whether they are
loyal to the organization. Few organizations appreciate employees, especially those in the managerial ranks
openly disparaging the firm. The assessment of an employee's loyalty or commitment is highly judgmental.
What is perceived as loyalty by one may be seen as excessive by another. An employee who questions a top
management decision may be seen as disloyal. Some employees called whistle-blowers who report unethical
practices by their employer to authorities inside or outside the organization, typically act out of loyalty to their
organization but are perceived by management as troublemakers.

Our perception is largely influenced by different factors. Those factors can be divided into external and
internal factors. The external factors are those factors which out of the control of an individual; and include
size, intensity, contrast, motion repetition and Novelty& familiarization.

1. SIZE: The larger the size, the more likely to be perceived. Perception directly proportional to size

2. INTENSITY: The more the intensity of the factor, the more likely it is perceived. Bright colour, loud
sound, and strong light are easily perceived.

3. CONTRAST: Factors that are standing out against the back ground or not what people expect are the
most likely to be perceived.

4. MOTION: Moving factors are more likely perceived than stationary factors.

5. REPETITION: Repeated factor is more likely to be perceived than a single events

6. NOVELITY &FAMILIARIZATION: Familiarity increases the chance of perception of an event.

The internal factors are factors which are internal to the perceivers. It includes factors like: personality,
learning and motivation.

PERSONALITY: Personality is shaped, in part by perception; in turn, personality affects what and how
people perceived. Our personality appears to be strongly affect how an individual perceive others people.
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LEARNING: Our perception is strongly influenced by past experiences and what was learned from those
experiences. For example, there is a saying in Amharic: One who saw a snake will always afraid when he/she
see snake like thing,

MOTIVATION: It also plays an important role in determining what a person perceives. Unsatisfied need
stimulate an individual and may exert a strong influence on their perception.

2.2 Attitudes

Definition of attitude

Attitude is defined as a more or less stable set of predisposition of opinion, interest or purpose involving
expectancy of a certain kind of experience and readiness with inappropriate response. Attitudes are also
known as "frames of reference". They provide the background against which facts and events are viewed. It
becomes necessary to know the attitudes of members of an organization because they have to perceive
specific aspects like pay, hours of work, promotion etc., of their job life in the wider context of their
generalized attitudes.

An attitude is also a cognitive element; it always remains inside a person. Everyone’s psychological world is
limited and thus everyone has a limited number of attitudes. In business organization, employees have
attitudes relating to world environment, job security etc. The individual's attitudes towards these factors are
indicative of his apathy or enthusiasm towards the activities and objectives of the organization.

According to G.W. Allport, “Attitude is a mental and neutral state of readiness organized through experience,
exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon individual’s response to all objects and situations with which
it is related.”

Kerch and Crutchfield defined “attitude as an enduring organization of motivational, emotional, perceptual
and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of the individual’s world”

According to Katz and Scotland, “Attitude is a tendency or predisposition to evaluate an object or symbol of
that object in a certain way”. In effect attitude is used in a generic sense, as to what people perceive, feel and
express their views about a situation, object or other people. Attitude cannot be seen, but the behavior can be
seen as an expression of attitude.

In short, attitude can be defined as a persistent tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some
subject or object or event. It is the evaluative statements either favorable or unfavorable concerning objects,

39
people, or events. It reflects how one feels about something. For example when you said, I like: OB”; it means
that an individual express his attitude towards “OB”

Characteristics of attitudes

1. It tends to persist unless something is done to change it.

2. It is unique to self. Two people may look at a single situation differently.

3. It is learned

4. It is organized and is close to the core of personality.

5. It is directed toward some objects or events which a person has feeling and belief.

6. It is the predisposition of the individual to evaluate some objects in favorable or an unfavorable

manner concerning the objects, people or events

7. Attitudes are different from values. Values are the ideals, whereas attitudes are narrow, they are our
feelings, thoughts and behavioral tendencies toward a specific object or situation.

An attitude is "a mental state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a specific influence upon a
person's response to people, objects and situation with which it is related". Attitudes thus state one's
predispositions towards given aspects of world. They also provide an emotional basis of one's interpersonal
relations and identification with others. Managers in work organizations need to know and understand
employee’s attitudes in order to manage effectively. Attitudes do influence behavior of people and their
performance in organizations.

Components of attitudes

Attitude has three components of attitudes are: Cognitive component; Affective component; and Behavioral
component.

1. Cognitive Component

This component includes the beliefs an individual has about a certain person, object, or situation. Cognitive
elements are evaluative beliefs and are measured by attitude scales or by asking about thoughts. The statement
"I believe Japanese workers are industrious,” reflect the cognitive component of an attitude. The cognitive
component sets the stage for the more critical part of attitude - its affective component.

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Example: Mr. “X” is not a good teacher. (You get information about the teacher)

2. Affective Components

This component refers to the person's feelings that result from his or her beliefs about a person, object or
situation. A person who believes hard work earns promotions may feel anger or frustration when he or she
works hard but is not promoted. The affective component becomes stronger as an individual has more
frequent and direct experience with a focal object, person or situation. Affect is the emotional component of
an attitude.

It refers to an individual's feeling about something or someone. Statements such as "I like this" or "I prefer
that" reflect the affective component of an attitude. Affect is measured by physiological indicators such as
galvanic skin response (changes in electrical resistance of skin which indicate emotional arousal) and blood
pressure. These indicators show changes in emotions by measuring physiological arousal. If an individual is
trying to hide his or her feelings, this might be shown by a change in arousal.

Example: I do not like teacher X (Here, you draw some felling about him)

3. Behavioral Components

This component refers to the individual's behavior that occurs as a result of his or her feeling about the focal
person, object or situation. It constitutes the intention to act in a certain way. It refers the tendency of people
to act towards some one or something in a certain way. An individual may complain, request a transfer, or be
less productive because he or she feels dissatisfied with work. The behavioral component of an attitude refers
to an intention to behave in a certain way toward someone or something.

For example, our attitudes towards women in management may be inferred from an observation of the way
we behave toward a female supervisor. We may be supportive, passive or hostile depending on our attitude.
The behavioral component of an attitude is measured by observing behavior or by asking a person about
behavior or intentions.

EXAMPLE: I might stop attending ato “X” classes because of the bad feeling on him.

SOURCES OF ATTITUDES

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Attitudes are acquired from parents, teachers, and peer group members. We model our attitudes after those we
admire, respect or fear. We observe the way family and friends behave, and we shape our attitudes and
behavior to align with theirs. People also imitate the attitudes of popular individuals and those they admire
and respect. Attitudes are an integral part of the world of work. It is important for managers to understand the
antecedents to attitudes as well as their consequences. Managers also need to understand the different
components of attitudes, how attitudes are formed, and the major attitudes that affect work behavior and how
to use persuasion to change attitudes.

TYPES OF ATTITUDES

A person can have thousands of attitudes, but most of the research in OB has been concerned with three
attitudes: Job satisfaction, job involvement, and organizational commitment.

1. Job Satisfaction: Satisfaction results when a job fulfils or facilitates the attainment of individual values and
standards and dissatisfaction occurs when the job is seen as blocking such attainment. This attitude has
received extensive attention by researchers and practitioners because it was at one time believed to be the
cause of improved job performance. The term "job satisfaction" refers to an individual’s general attitude
toward his or her job. A person with a high level of job satisfaction holds positive attitudes toward the job; a
person who is dissatisfied with his or her job holds negative attitudes about the job. Now, because of
managers' concern for creating a humane and high performance workplace, researchers continue to search for
definite answers about the causes and consequences of job satisfaction.

2. Job Involvement: Job involvement is the degree, to which a person identifies with his or her job, actively
participates in it and considers his or her performance important to self-worth. Employees with a high level of
job involvement strongly identify with and really care about the kind of work they do. High levels of job
involvement have been found to be related to fewer absences and lower resignation rates.

3. Organizational Commitment: Organizational commitment is the degree to which an employee identifies

with a particular organization and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization. High
organizational commitment means identifying with one's employing organization.

Attitude formation

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Attitudes are learned. Individuals acquire attitudes from several sources but the point to be stressed is that the
attitudes are acquired but not inherited. Our responses to people and issues evolve over time. Two major
influences on attitudes are direct experience and social learning.

1. Direct Experience: Attitudes can develop from a personally rewarding or punishing experience with an
object. Direct experience with an object or person is a powerful influence on attitudes. Research has shown
that attitudes that are derived from direct experience are stronger, are held more confidently and are more
resistant to change than are attitudes formed through indirect experience. One reason that attitudes derived
from direct experience are so powerful is because of their availability. This means that the attitudes are easily
accessed and are active in our cognitive processes. When attitudes are available, we can call them quickly into
consciousness. Attitudes that are not learned from direct experience are not as available, and therefore we do
not recall them easily.

2. Social Learning: In social learning, the family, peer groups and culture shape an individual’s attitudes in
an indirect manner. Substantial social learning occurs through modeling, in which individuals acquire
attitudes by merely observing others. For an individual to learn from observing a model, four processes must
take place:

 The learner must focus attention on the model.

 The learner must retain what was observed from the model.

 Behavioral reproduction must occur; that is, the learner must practice the behavior.

 The learner must be motivated to learn from the model.

Social learning can take place through the following ways:

1. The Family: A person may learn attitudes through imitation of parents. If parents have a positive attitude
towards an object and the child admires his parents, he is likely to adopt a similar attitude, even without being
told about the object, and even without having direct experience. Children also learn to adopt certain attitudes
by the reinforcement they are given by their parents when they display behaviors that reflect an appropriate
attitude.

2. Peer Groups: Peer pressure moulds attitudes through group acceptance of individuals who express popular
attitudes and through sanctions, such as exclusion from the group, placed on individuals who espouse
(promote) unpopular attitudes.

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3. Modeling: Substantial social learning occurs through modeling, in which individuals acquire attitudes by
merely observing others. The observer overhears other individuals expressing an opinion or watches them
engaging in a behavior that reflects an attitude, and the observer adopts this attitude.

Attitude and Consistency

As stated earlier that the attitude of an individual is not visible but is reflected through his behaviour as
a mirror of his attitude. It is seen that people seek consistency among their attitudes or between
attitude and behaviour. They seek to reconcile their attitudes and align their attitudes with behaviour
so that it is rational and consistent. If there is inconsistency between attitude and behaviour, outside
forces act upon an individual, which leads to attaining of equilibrium state, thus consistency is
achieved. For example an individual may buy an old car while praising the new model. Reconciliation
like, ‘why invest more for a new model’, or ‘the old model is as efficient as the new one, because the
same had been sparingly used’. Such feelings are expressed to soothe the attitude (praising new car)
and behaviour (Buying the old model) to achieve consistency between them.

2.3 Personality

Overview
In the popular sense most people as an intangible quality that makes people or an individual attractive
or non-attractive to others understand personality, we often here people using the term to mean many
things. To psychologist personality is a much wider term. In every individual we see characteristics,
which in a given situation result in a typical reaction. This pattern of reaction to a particular situation
makes the personality of an individual.
The word personality originated from the Latin word “persona” which means the mask worn by the
player. When categorically used it means the false appearance. Later on it became the player himself
with distinct qualities. As far as psychologists are concerned personality is neither the false appearance
over the distinct qualities. According to them people are the product of biological structures and their
environments. It emerges from the interaction between the biological organism and a social physical
world. It is expressed form of behaviour. It refers to the whole individual. Personality consists of
certain surface traits and depth factors. Traits such as friendliness, vigor sociability etc. are only the
surface traits which are measured using Rating Scales, questionnaires etc. while the depth factors
contribute the inner personality of an individual. They include fears, anxieties, aspirations etc. A
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person may be conscious or unconscious about his inner wants. This inner personality is revealed
through psychoanalysis especially dream analysis and force association. Certain tests also are used in
measuring it. This gives us a fair understanding regarding the complexity and the multiplicity of
personality traits. It consists of a constellation of traits such as intelligence, interests, aptitude, value
etc. In short we can only say that personality is a configuration of many traits, which influence his
total behaviour.
Definition of Personality
Personality is a very complex and multidimensional construct of a human being. No common
definition of personality has so far been arrived at. Every individual defines personality in different
way which includes trait factors and physical appearance. “Personality is a dynamic organization
within an individual of those psychological systems that determines his unique adjustment with the
environment. It is a sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others.”

In the words of Kolasa, “personality is a broad, amorphous designation relating to fundamental

approaches of persons to others and themselves. To most psychologists and students of behaviour, this
term refers to the study of the characteristics traits of an individual, relationships between these traits,
and the way in which a person adjust to other people and situations.”
According to Gluck, “Personality is a pattern of stable states and characteristics of a person that
influences his or her behaviour toward goal achievement. Each person has unique ways of protecting
these states.”

Maddi (1980) defines personality thus: Personality is a stable set of characteristics and tendencies that
determine those commonalities and differences in the psychological behaviour (thoughts, feelings, and
actions) of people that have continuity in time and that may not be easily understood as the sole result
of the social and biological pressures of the moment. The above definitions indicate the commonality
of characteristics and human tendencies amongst people who display consistency in their behaviour
over time. Maddis definition suggests that people do change due to biological and social pressures.
Thus by understanding certain dimensions of personality one can predict human behaviour to a great
extent

Determinants to Personality
Several factors influence the shaping of our personality. Chief among these are heredity, culture,
family background, our experiences through life, and the people we interact with.
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a. Heredity. There are some genetic factors, which play a part in determining certain aspects of
what we tend to become. Whether we are tall or short, experience good health or ill health, are
quickly irritable or patient, are all characteristics which can, in many cases, be traced to
heredity.
b. Culture. The cultural values we are surrounded by significantly tend to shape our personal
values and predisposition. Thus people born in different cultures have different personalities,
which significantly influence their behaviors. People in the West, for instance, generally tend
to be more assertive than people in oriental cultures.
c. Family Background. His socio-economic status of the family, the number of children in the
family and birth order, and the background and education of the parents and extended members
of the family such as uncles and aunts, influence the shaping of personality to a considerable
extent. Experiences in life whether one trusts or mistrusts others, is miserly or generous has a
high or low self esteem, and the like, is at least partially related to the past experiences the
individual has had. A person we interact with “a person is known by the company he or she
keeps” is a common adage. The implication is that people influence each other and tends to
associate with members who are more like them in their attitudes and values. From childhood,
the people we interact with influence us. First our parents and siblings, then our teachers and
class mates, later our friends and colleagues, and so on. The influence of these various
individuals and groups shapes our personality.
d. Situation Individual has to interact with number of problems in a given situation, which does
not remain constant. It is subject to change and hence fluid in nature. There is therefore a need
to recognize the person-situation interaction. It can be social learning activity of personality.
Thus personality is situational, the uniqueness of each situation and any on how a person in an
organization would display his reactions in a particular situation.
e. Environment Every individual is born and brought up in a particular environment.
Environment leaves an imprint on the personality of an individual. It is commonly seen that a
doctor’s son preferring his father’s profession and a child of a soldier entering into defense
Services. More advanced the socio-economic conditions of the society more would the children
be forward thinking. Environment should be viewed from the point of view of norms, ethics
and value that are observed and the attitude displayed by the social group. These factors
actually formulate the culture of the society from which the organizations draw their human
resource requirements.
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In sum, our personality is a function of both heredity and other external factors that shape it. It is
important to know what specific personality predisposition influence work behaviour.
2.3-4. Organization—Based Personality Attributes
1. Locus of Control
Major personality attributes which affects organizational behaviour is locus of control that is the
degree to which people believe that they are masters of their own fate. It is the concept, which
determines whether an individual’s control events or the events control the individuals and that they
become only the pawns of situation. People have both internal locus of control and external locus of
control, only the degree varies.
a. Internal Locus of Control: Persons having internal locus of control believe that they can
manipulate events to their advantage and therefore they are capable of deciding their fate For
example, a manager having dominant internal locus of control would be able to effectively
control resources, decide events, which benefits him.
b. External Locus of Control: Person having dominant external locus of control believe that
what happen to them is controlled by outside forces such as luck or chance. These types of
people lack initiative, decision-making and do not even take calculated risk. They wait and see
events take place and things happen.
2. Type - A and Type - B Characteristics: In contrast to the locus of control characteristic,
which addresses why a person is behaving in a certain manner, the well-known type A/B
classification describes how a person behaves in his life and work. Type - A individuals are
characterized as compulsive and obsessive, impatient and irritable, high achievers,
perfectionists, very competitive, quick movers, and very time conscious. Type - B individuals,
on the other hand, are more methodical in getting tasks accomplished, more relaxed and laid
back, and more patients with others. Type A personalities, when carried to extremes, can lead
to over controlling and conflict-oriented behaviour.
2.3-5. Matching Personality and Job
1. Achievement Orientation: Achievement orientation of an individual also indicates the
personality of an individual. Every person possesses need to achieve (nAch) phenomenon in
his personality. It could be high degree nAch or low degree. A person who possesses high
nAch displays very dominant personality. He is generally very ambitious, hard working and
fixes his goal at a very high level and strives to achieve the same. He is achievement oriented
and undertakes a task which is neither easy, because easy task is generally attained by a
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 common person nor a very challenging or tough task because there would be chances of failure
of achieving the same. People having high nAch are found to be good organizers, efficient
managers. Sports persons are generally high achievers as they strive to achieve that extra point
or mark than his competitors. High nAch generally do well as sale persons as it calls for hard
work and achieving higher targets of sales every time.

2. Authoritarianism: Close to the personality trait that a person possesses who is achievement
oriented is a person who believes in having a reasonably high authority in the organization
Theory of authoritarianism is related with status and power. The theory states that there should
b status and power difference between various people in the organization. While there would
be some people who will have more power and authority hence more authoritative yet there
would be people with low power and authority hence minimum degree of being authoritative.
One would therefore find in an organization, people with low authority and high authority.
Person who possesses high authoritarian is intellectually rigid, they display varied behaviour
patterns. They are submissive with those who are superior (senior) to them and behave in an
exploitative manner to those who are subordinates or below them. They resist change and
display insensitivity while dealing with people. They are task oriented.

3. Theory of Machiavellianism: Niccolo Machiavelli introduced theory of Machiavellianism.

The theory refers to degree to which an individual is pragmatic and maintains emotional
distance with co-workers while accomplishing any task. A person who practices this theory
believes in “end justifies means.” In any organization people can be classified as having high
Machiavellianism or low Machiavellianism tendencies. A person having High
Machiavellianism (H Mach) generally displays variety of personality traits like manipulation,
win more, and persuade others to do a work while they do not get persuaded by others. They
generally flourish in face-to-face situation where there are minimum rules and have enough
space for maneuver. They have high bargaining skills and believe in giving substantial rewards
to their subordinates on accomplishment of tasks. They are highly productive. Machiavelli
believed in one doctrine, that a work must be finished whatever be the means.

4. Self-Esteem

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Self-esteem is an individual's general feeling of self-worth, or expectation for success. Individuals with high
self-esteem have positive feelings about themselves, perceive themselves to have strength as well as
weaknesses, and believe their strengths are more important than their weaknesses. Individuals with low self-
esteem view themselves negatively. They are more strongly affected by what other people think of them, and
they compliment individuals who give them positive feedback while cutting down people who give them
negative feedback.

Research on self-esteem (SE) offers some interesting insights into organizational behavior.

People with High self-esteem

 Believe they possess more of the ability they need in order to succeed at work,
 Will take more risks in job selection and are more likely to choose unconventional jobs,
 Are more satisfied with their jobs.
People with low self-esteem
 Are more susceptible to external influence,
 Depend on the receipt of positive evaluations from others,
 Tend to be concerned with pleasing others and therefore, are less likely to take unpopular stands,
and
 Are less satisfied with their jobs.
 Self-esteem may be strongly affected by situations. Success tends to raise self-esteem, whereas
failure tends to lower it. High self-esteem is generally a positive characteristic; managers should
encourage employees to raise their self-esteem by giving them appropriate challenges and
opportunities for success.

5. Self-Monitoring: is related to self-efficacy. It is situation specific. A person must always

examine efficiency and attribute it to his behaviour with subordinates and improve upon it.
This quality displays high degree of adaptability and high sensitivity of an individual. A person
possessing self monitoring trait is likely to behave differently in different situation.

6. Risk Taking: Risk taking trait is commonly seen in various entrepreneurs. They display rapid
decision making ability.
Type A and Type B Personality

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Type A behavior pattern is a complex of personality and behavioral characteristics, including competitiveness,
time urgency, social status insecurity, aggression, hostility and a quest for achievements. Type A personality
individual is "aggressively involved in a chronic, struggle to achieve more and more in less and less time, and
if required to do so, against the opposing efforts of other things or other persons".

Type “A” personality:

 Are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly:

 Feel impatient with the rate at which most events take place;
 Strive to think or do two or more things simultaneously;
 Cannot cope with leisure time; and
 Are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how much of everything they acquire.
The alternative to the Type A behavior pattern is the Type B behavior pattern. People with Type B
personalities are relatively free of the Type A behaviors and characteristics.

Type B personalities are "rarely harried by the desire to obtain a wildly increasing number of things or
participate in an endless growing series of events in an ever decreasing amount of time".

Type B personality:

 Never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience;
 Feel no need to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure
is demanded by the situation;
 Play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their superiority at any cost; and
 Can relax without guilt.
Organizations can also be characterized as Type A or Type B organizations. Type A individuals in Type B
organizations and Type B individuals in Type A organizations experience stress related to a misfit between
their personality type and the predominant type of the organization.

2.4 LEARNING
Overview
Learning brings relatively permanent change in human behaviour that occurs as a result of experience.
All complex behaviour is a learned behaviour. If we want to predict and explain behaviour, we must
understand how people learn. Learning involves change in behaviour. It is continuous process, which
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 occurs all the time. We cannot see learning but we can see changed behaviour as a consequence of
learning. Learning changes attitude of individuals to a large extent. An individual reacts to any
situation or responds to instructions in particular fashion, that fashion or style is caused due to
learning. Theoretical approach to learning incorporates behaviorist, cognitive and newly emerging
social learning theories. Understanding of these theories is important to the study of organizational
behaviour.

2.4-1. Definition of Learning

According to Norman Munn, “Learning can be defined as the process of being modified more or less
permanently by what happens in the world around us, by what we do or what we observe”.

According to Hilgard and Bower, “Learning is the process by which an activity originates or is
changed through reacting to an encountered situation, provided that the characteristics of the change
activity cannot be explained on the basis of native response tendencies, maturation, or temporary states
of the organism.”

According to Bernard, Bass and James Vaughn, “Learning is a relatively permanent change in
behaviour which occurs as a result of experience”.
According to Fred Luthens; “Learning can be defined as relatively permanent change in behaviour
that occurs as a result of experience or reinforced practice”.

Learning has other social implications also. By learning we mean only the improvement of those
qualities, which are accepted by the society, and that it does not challenge the norms. Hence he would
say that learning is a lifelong process, which starts right after birth and goes on till the end although
much learning is done after the “process of socialization”. A generally accepted definition of learning
is any relatively permanent change in behaviour that occurs as a result of experience. Ironically, we
can say that changes in behaviour indicate that learning has taken place and that learning is a change in
behaviour.

DETERMINANTS OF LEARNING

The important factors that determine learning are:

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1. Motive: Motives also called drives, prompt people to action. They are primary energizers of behavior. They
are the ways of behavior and mainspring of action. They are largely subjective and represent the mental feelings
of human beings. They are cognitive variables. They arise continuously and determine the general direction of
an individual's behavior without motive learning cannot occur.

2. Stimuli: Stimuli are objects that exist in the environment in which a person lives. Stimuli increase the
probability of eliciting a specific response from a person.

3. Generalization: The principle of generalization has important implications for human learning.
Generalization takes place when the similar new stimuli repeat in the environment. When two stimuli are
exactly alike, they will have probability of eliciting specific response. It makes possible for a manager to predict
human behavior when stimuli are exactly alike.

4. Discrimination: What is not generalization is discrimination. In case of discrimination, responses vary to

different stimuli. For example an MBA student may learn to respond to video teaching but not to the oral
lecturing by his professor.

5. Responses: The stimulus results in responses - be these in the physical form or in terms of attitudes or
perception or in other phenomena. However, the responses need to be operationally defined and preferably
physically observable.

6. Reinforcement: Reinforcement is a fundamental conditioning of learning. Reinforcement can be defined as

anything that both increases the strength of response and tends to induce repetitions of behavior that preceded
the reinforcement. No measurable modification of behavior can take place without reinforcement.

7. Retention: Retention means remembrance of learned behavior overtime. Converse is forgetting. Learning
which is forgotten over time is called "extinction". When the response strength returns after extinction without
only intervening reinforcement it is called "spontaneous recovery".

THEORIES OF LEARNING

The most basic purpose of learning theory like any other is to better explain how learning occurs. Attempts have
been made by the psychologists and behavioral scientists to develop theories of learning.

How do we learn? Four theories have been offered to explain the process by which we acquire patterns of
behavior:

1. Classical conditioning theory; 3. Cognitive learning theory; and

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 2. Operant conditioning theory, 4. Social learning theory.

1. Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is one of the simplest forms of learning yet it has a powerful effect on our attitudes, likes
and dislikes, and emotional responses. We have all learned to respond in specific ways to a variety of words and
symbols. Our lives are profoundly influenced by associations we learn through classical conditioning. Ivan
Pavlov whose research on the conditioned reflex in dogs revealed much of what we know about the principles
of classical conditioning.

Classical Conditioning of Pavlov: Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936) organized and directed research in physiology at
the Institute of Experimental Medicine in St. Petersburg, Russia from 1891 until his death in 1936. His book
"Conditioned Reflexes" is one of the classic works in psychology. Classical conditioning is modifying behavior
so that a conditioned stimulus is paired within unconditioned stimulus and elicits an unconditioned behavior.
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian psychologist developed classical conditioning theory based on his experiments to teach
dog to salivate in response to the ringing of a bell. Classical conditioning introduces a simple cause-and-effect
relationship between one stimulus and response. It also makes the response reflective or involuntary after the
stimulus-response relationship has been established. This leaves no ground for making choice, which
differences human beings from dogs. Under certain situations classical conditioning does explain human
behavior. For example, if a student is always reprimanded by his Principal when he is summoned to the
principal's office he may become nervous whenever asked to come to the principal's office because of this
association.

Limitations: Classical conditioning has real limitation in its acceptability to human behavior in organizations
for at least three reasons:

(i) Human beings are more complex than dogs but less amenable to simple cause-and-effect conditioning.

(ii) The behavioral environment in organizations is also complex.

(iii) The human decision-making process being complex in nature makes it possible to override simple
conditioning.

2. Operant Conditioning

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An alternate approach to classical conditioning was proposed by B.F. Skinner, known as Operant Conditioning,
in order to explain the more complex behavior of human, especially in organizational setting.

Operant conditioning argues that behavior is a function of its consequences. People learn to behave to get
something they want or avoid something they don't want. Operant behavior means voluntary or learned
behavior in contrast to reflexive or unlearned behavior. The tendency to repeat such behavior is influenced by
the reinforcement or lack of reinforcement brought about by the consequences of the behavior. Reinforcement
therefore strengthens behavior and increases the likelihood it will be repeated. What Pavlov did for classical
conditioning, the Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner did for operant conditioning. Operant conditioning induces
a voluntary change in behavior and learning occurs as a” consequence" of such change. It is also known as
reinforcement theory and it suggests that behavior is a function of its consequences. It is based upon the premise
that behavior or job performance is not a function of inner thoughts, feelings, emotions or perceptions but is
keyed to the nature of the outcome of such behavior. The consequences of a given behavior would determine
whether the same behavior is likely to occur with future or not. Based upon this direct relationship between the
consequences and behavior, the management can study and identify this relationship and try to modify and
control behavior. Thus, the behavior can be controlled by manipulating its consequences. This relationship is
built around two principles:

l The behavior that results in positive rewards tend to be repeated and behavior with negative consequences tend
not to be repeated Based upon such consequences, the behavior can be predicted and controlled. Hence, certain
types of consequences can be used to increase the occurrence of a desired behavior and other types of
consequences can be used to decrease the occurrence of undesired behavior. The consequences of behavior are
used to influence, or shape, behavior through three strategies: reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Thus,
operant conditioning is the process of modifying behavior through the use of positive or negative consequences
following specific behaviors. From an organizational point of view, any stimulus from the work environment
will elicit a response. The consequence of such a response will determine the nature of the future response. For
example working hard and getting the promotion will probably cause the person to keep working hard in the
future.

Factors Influencing Operant Conditioning:

1. The first factor is the magnitude of reinforcement. In general, as magnitude of reinforcement increases,
acquisition of a response is greater. For example, workers would be motivated to work harder and faster, if they

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were paid a higher salary. Research indicates that level of performance is also influenced by the relationship
between the amount of reinforcement expected and what is actually received. For example, your job
performance would undoubtedly be affected if your salary were suddenly cut by half. Also, it might
dramatically improve if your employer doubled your pay.

2. The second factor affecting operant conditioning is the immediacy of reinforcement. Responses are
conditioned more effectively when reinforcement is immediate. As a rule, the longer the delay in reinforcement,
the more slowly a response is acquired.

3. The third factor influencing conditioning is the level of motivation of the learner. If you are highly motivated
to learn to play football you will learn faster and practice more than if you have no interest in the game. Skinner
found that when food is therein forcer, a hungry animal would learn faster than an animal with a full stomach.

3. Cognitive Learning Theory

Behaviorists such as Skinner and Watson believed that learning through operant and classical conditioning
would be explained without reference to internal mental processes. Today, however, a growing number of
psychologists stress the role of mental processes. They choose to broaden the study of learning to include such
cognitive processes as thinking, knowing, and problem solving, remembering and forming mental
representations. According to cognitive theorists, these processes are critically important in a more complete,
more comprehensive view of learning.

1. Wolfang Kohler (1887 - 1967): Learning by insight: - A German Psychologist studied anthropoid apes and
become convinced that they behave intelligently and were capable of problem solving. In his book “The
Mentality of Apes” (1925), Kohler describes experiments he conducted on chimpanzees confined in caged
areas. In one experiment Kohler hung a bunch of bananas inside the caged area but overhead, out of reach of the
apes; boxes and sticks were left around the cage. Kohler observed the chimp's unsuccessful attempts to reach
the bananas by jumping or swinging sticks at them. Eventually the chimps solved the problem by piling the
boxes one on top of the other until they could reach the bananas. In another experiment, Sultan, the brightest of
the chimps, was given one short stick; beyond reach outside the cage were a longer stick and a bunch of
bananas. After failing to reach the bananas with the short stick, Sultan used it to drag the longer stick within
reach. Then, finding that the long stick did not reach the bananas, Sultan finally solved the problem by fitting
the two sticks together to form one long stick. With this stick, he successfully retrieved the bananas.

Kohler observed that the chimps sometimes appeared to give up in their attempts to get the bananas. However,
after an interval they returned and came up with the solution to the problem as if it had come to them in a flash
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of insight. Kohler insisted that insight, rather than trial-and-error learning, accounted for the chimp’s successes
because they could easily repeat the solution and transfers this learning to similar problems.

Learning by insight occurs when there is a sudden realization of the relationship between elements in a problem
situation so that a solution becomes apparent.

Kohler's major contribution is his notion of learning by insight. In human terms, a solution gained through
insight is more easily learned, less likely to be forgotten, and more readily transferred to new problems than
solution learned through rote memorization.

2. Edward Tolman (1886 - 1959): Latent Learning and Cognitive Maps: - Edward Tolman differed with the
prevailing ideas on learning

(i) He believed that learning could take place without reinforcing.

(ii) He differentiated between learning and performance. He maintained that latent learning could occur. That is
learning could occur without apparent reinforcement but not be demonstrated until the organism was motivated
to do so.

The following experiment by Tolman and Honzik (1930) supported this position. The experiment consisted of
three groups of rats that were placed in a maze daily for 17days. The first group always received a food reward
at the end of the maze. The second group never received a reward, and the third group did not receive a food
reward until the 11th day. The first group showed a steady improvement in performance over the 17 day period.
The second group showed gradual improvement. The third group, after being rewarded on the 11th day showed
a marked improvement the next day and from then on outperformed the rats that had been rewarded daily. The
rapid improvement of the third group indicated to Tolman that latent learning has occurred – that the rats had
actually learned the maze during the first 11 days. In later studies, Tolman showed how rats quickly learned to
rearrange learned cognitive maps and find their way through increasingly complex mazes with ease.

4. Social Learning

Albert Bandura contends that many behaviors or responses are acquired through observational learning.
Observational learning, sometimes called modeling results when we observe the behaviors of others and note
the consequences of that behavior. The person who demonstrates behavior or whose behavior is imitated is
called models. Parents, movie stars and sports personalities are often powerful models. The effectiveness of a
model is related to his or her status, competence and power. Other important factors are the age, sex,

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attractiveness, and ethnicity of the model. Whether learned behaviors are actually performed depends largely on
whether the person expects to be rewarded for the behavior.

Social learning integrates the cognitive and operant approaches to learning. It recognizes that learning does not
take place only because of environmental stimuli (classical and operant conditioning) or of individual
determinism (cognitive approach) but is a blend of both views. It also emphasizes that people acquire new
behaviors by observing or imitating others in a social setting. In addition, learning can also be gained by
discipline and self-control and an inner desire to acquire knowledge or skills irrespective of the external rewards
or consequences. This process of self-control is also partially a reflection of societal and cultural influences on
the development and growth of human beings.

Usually, the following four processes determine the influence that a model will have on an individual:

 Attention Process: People can learn from their models provided they recognize and pay attention to the
critical features. In practice, the models that are attractive, repeatedly available or important to us tend to
influence us the most.

 Retention Process: A model's influence depends on how well the individual can remember or retain in
memory the behavior/action displayed by him when the model is no longer readily available.

 Motor Reproduction Process: Now, the individual needs to convert the model's action into his action.
This process evinces how well an individual can perform the modeled action.

 Reinforcement Process: Individuals become motivated to display the modeled action if incentive and
rewards are provided to them.

In addition to observing others as role models, human beings have the capacity of self regulation.

By simply thinking about their behavior, they can change their behaviors towards betterment and in accordance
with the norms of social and organizational living.

Central to Bundura's social learning theory is the notion of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an individual's belief
and expectancies about his or her ability to accomplish a specific task effectively. Individuals with high self-
efficacy believe that they have the ability to get things done, that they are capable of putting forth the effort to
accomplish the task, and that they can overcome any obstacles to their success. People with high levels of self-
efficacy are more effective at learning than are those with low levels of self-efficacy. According to Bandura,
self-efficacy expectations may be enhanced through four means as follows:

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1. Performance accomplishments (just do it!)

2. Vicarious experiences (watch someone else do it)

3. Verbal persuasion (be convinced by someone else to do it) or

4. Emotional arousal (get excited about doing it)

PRINCIPLES OF REINFORCEMENT

Reinforcement has played a central role in learning. Most learning experts agree that reinforcement is the single
most important principle of learning. Yet, there is much controversy over its theoretical explanation. The first
major theoretical treatment given to reinforcement in learning is Thorndike's classic law of effect. According to
Thorndike, “of several responses made to the same situation, those which are accompanied or closely followed
by satisfaction (reinforcement) ……… will be more likely to recur; those which are accompanied or closely
followed by discomfort (punishment) …………Will be less likely to occur". From a strictly empirical
standpoint, most behavioral scientists, generally accept the validity of this law. Therefore, reinforcement is the
attempt to develop or strengthen desirable behavior by either bestowing positive consequences or withholding
negative consequences. Reinforcement is the process by which certain types of behaviors are strengthened. It is
the attempt to develop or strengthen desirable behavior by either bestowing positive consequences or
withholding negative consequences. Thus, a "rein forcer" is any stimulus that causes certain behavior to be
repeated or inhibited. By introducing some rein forcers, the organizations can maintain or increase the
probability of such behaviors as quality oriented performance, decision-making, high level of attendance and
punctuality and soon. There are four basic reinforcement strategies: Positive reinforcement, Negative
reinforcement, Extinction, and Punishment,

1. Positive Reinforcement

A positive reinforcement is a reward for a desired behavior. The reward should be sufficiently powerful and
durable so that it increases the probability of occurrence of desirable behavior. Positive reinforcement results
from the application of a positive consequence following a desirable behavior.

For example

 Bonuses paid at the end of a successful business year are an example of positive reinforcement

 (ii) Employees will work hard for a raise or a promotion

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  (iii) Salesmen will increase their efforts to get rewards and bonuses

 (iv) Students will study to get good grades and

 (v) Children will throw temper tantrums to get candy or ice creams.

In these examples, the rises, promotions, awards, bonuses, good grades candy and ice cream are positive rein
forcers.

2. Negative Rein forcers

Negative reinforcement also known as "escape conditioning" or "avoidance learning" it is also a method of
strengthening desired behavior. Negative reinforcement results from withholding a threatened negative
consequence when a desired behavior occurs.

For example students study hard, write term papers and do their homework on time to avoid the consequences
of failure in the examination. Just as people engage in behaviors in order to get positive rein forcers, they also
engage in behaviors to avoid or escape unpleasant conditions. Terminating an unpleasant stimulus in order to
strengthen or increase the probability of a response is called negative reinforcement. If people find that a
response successfully ends an aversive condition, they are likely to repeat it. For example, Heroin addicts will
do almost anything to obtain heroin to terminate their painful withdrawal symptoms. Responses that end
discomfort and those that are followed by rewards are likely to be strengthened or repeated because both lead to
a more desirable outcome. Some behavior is influenced by a combination of positive and negative
reinforcement. For example, if you eat a plateful of rather disgusting leftovers to relieve intense hunger then
you are eating solely to remove hunger, a negative rein forcer. But if your hunger is relieved by dinner at a fine
restaurant, both positive and negative reinforcement will have played a role.

3. Extinction :( withholding reinforcement)

We have seen that responses followed by rein forcers tend to be repeated and that responses no longer followed
by rein forcers will occur less and less frequently and eventually die out.

In humans, extinction can lead to frustration or even rage. Consider a child having a temper tantrum. If whining
and loud demands do not bring the rein forcer, the child may progress to kicking and screaming. It is what we
expect and don't get that makes us angry. An alternative to punishing undesirable behavior is extension - the
attempt to weaken behavior by attaching no consequences (either positive or negative) to it. It is equivalent to
ignoring the behavior. The rationale for using extinction is that a behavior not followed by any consequence is

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weakened. However, some patience and time may be needed for it to be effective. This type of reinforcement is
applied to reduce undesirable behavior; especially when such behaviors were previously rewarded. This means
that if rewards were removed from behaviors that were previously reinforced, then such behaviors would
become less frequent and eventually die out. For example, if a student in the class is highly mischievous and
disturbs the class, he is probably asking for attention. If the attention is given to him, he will continue to exhibit
that behavior. However, if he is continuously ignored and misrecognized, then such undesirable behavior will
vanish over a period of time.

4. Punishment

Punishment is the opposite of reinforcement. Punishment tends to lower the probability of a response by
following it with an aversive or unpleasant consequence. And punishment can be accomplished either adding an
unpleasant stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus. The added unpleasant stimulus might take the form of
criticism, a scolding, a disapproving look, a fine, or a prison sentence. The removal of a pleasant stimulus might
consist of withholding affection and attention, suspending a driver's license, or taking away a privilege such as
watching television.

We often confuse negative reinforcement and punishment. Unlike punishment, negative reinforcement increases
the probability of a desired response by removing an unpleasant stimulus when the correct response is made.

Punishment is the attempt to eliminate or weaken undesirable behavior. It is used in two ways. One way to
punish a person is through the application of a negative consequence following an undesirable behavior. The
other way to punish a person is through the withholding a positive consequence following an undesirable
behavior. Punishment is the most controversial method of behavior modification and involves delivering an
unpleasant consequence contingent upon the occurrence of an undesirable behavior.

The punishment process consists of "application" of an undesirable consequence or “withdrawal" of a desirable

consequence for an undesirable behavior, which has never been associated with reward before.

According to B. F. Skinner, punishment is still the most common technique of behavior control in today's life.
When a child misbehaves, he is spanked. If a person does not behave as the society or law wants him to behave,
he is punished by arrest and jail. Certain undesirable behaviors must be punished; otherwise, they will have far
reaching effects. Accordingly, in situations where punishment is desirable as a means of behavior modification,
certain guidelines would make it more effective thus minimizing its dysfunctional consequences.

(a) Praise in public; punish in private.

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(b) Apply punishment before the undesirable behavior has been strongly reinforced. Thus, the punishment
should immediately follow the undesirable behavior.

(c) The punishment should focus on the behavior and not on the person. One problem with punishment is that it
may have unintended results. Because punishment is discomforting to the individual being punished, the
experience of punishment may result in negative psychological, emotional, performance or behavioral
consequences. For example, the person being punished may become angry, hostile, depressed or despondent.
From an organizational standpoint, this result becomes important when the punished person translates negative
emotional and psychological responses into negative actions.

Chapter Questions

1. ------ is the tendency or propensity to act in certain way either positively or negatively or liking or
disliking some one , something or some objectect
A. Personality B. attitude C. Perception D. learning
2. Which one of the following individual difference or profile is characterized as the way we feel,
think, behave or act in a unique way that others
A. Personality B. Learning C. social learning D. attitude
3. Type of learning where behaviour is a result of a certain consequence and People learn to behave
to get something they want or avoid something they don't want is---?
A. Classical conditioning B. Oparent conditioning C. Social
learning D. Cognitive learning
4. Which one of the following is will not determine our personality?
A. Culture B. heredity C. environment D. family background
E. none
5. ------ is known as "escape conditioning" or "avoidance learning" it is also a method of
strengthening desired behavior.
A. Negative reinforcement B. positive reinforcement C.
cognitive learning D. classical conditioning

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 CHAPTER THREE

FOUNDATION OF GROUP/TEAM BEHAVIOR

Chapter Objectives

After the end of this session, the students will able:

 Explain why join team?

 State stages in team building
 Explain obstacles in team building
 Describes techniques used to increase team efficiency
 State the implication of employees’ satisfaction in performance

 Able to understand the team effectives and role of team leader in team effectiveness

3.1. Definition and classifying group and team

Introduction:

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It is said that honey is not made with one bee in a hive; it takes many bees to make honey. The same
concept works in any organization. There are many people who work in it. Each individual has a role in
the organization. But the whole employee must work as a member of different team to achieve
organizational objective.

Organizations of all sorts seem to feel that teams are the solutions to whatever problem they have, and that
is not completely wrong.

A group is a collection of two or more people who are interacting each others and maintain stable patterns
of relationships, share common goals, and perceive themselves as being a group. They influence one
another towards the accomplishment of an organizational objective.

A group can be formal or informal. Informal groups emanate from spontaneous interaction of people in
organization without any intended effort of the management and may not be known by the organization
managers. It is possible to sub-classify groups as command, task, interest, or friend ship group. Command
and task groups are dictated by the formal organization, whereas interest and friendship groups are
informal group.

Formal Group

By formal group means those defined by the organization structure with designated/assigned work
assignments established task. It includes command team and task team.

Command group:

It is a type of formal group and specified by the organization chart and is composed of the subordinates
who report directly to a given supervisor. The relationship between a senior nurse and her subordinate or
an elementary school director; his 12 teachers can be taken; and department of management and his 15
teachers can be taken as an example.

Task group:

It is also a type of formal group and it represents employees who works together to complete a particular
task or project. A task group’s boundaries are not limited to its immediate hierarchical superior. It can
cross command relationships.

Informal group:

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It is neither formally structured nor organizationally determined; appears in response to the need for social
contact. It is natural groupings of people in work environment that appear in response to the need of social
contact. For example three students who came from the same woreda can form group; or two workers who
always ate their launch in the same hotel can form a group; or four students who are who always watch
football game may form group. It includes interest and friendship group.

Interest group:

It may not be members of the same command, task, or group may come together to achieve some mutual
objectives. For example; people who has been fired, or seek improved working conditions. Remember that
the objectives of such groups are not related to those of the organization, but are specific to each group.

Friendship group (based on interest)

Many groups often develop because the individual members have one or more common characteristics
like similar age, holding of similar political view, or ethnic group ,or people who smoke ,or etc.

Features of formal group:

1. Designed deliberately/purposely by the management to perform certain activities.

2. It is based on the principles of division of labor, efficiency of operation and safety of customers.
3. People in hierarchy, status is designed clearly and authority
4. Coordination and control are achieved through rules, regulation and procedures

Features of informal Group

1. It is not deliberately designed by the organization
2. It is based on age, region, religious, etc
3. It is based on voluntary affiliation of individuals
4. Coordination and control are achieved through norms and not through rules.

3.2. What is team?

It can be defined as the collection of two or more individuals, interacting, interdependent and who come
together to achieve a particular objectives. People use team and group interchangeably, but they are not
similar.

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 Features of team

1. Social interaction: Team is composed of two or more people in social interaction or most have
some influence on each other. The interaction may be either verbal or nonverbal
2. Stability: Team also must possess a stable structure. There must be some stable relationships
that keep team member together and functioning as a unit.
3. Common interest or goal: A team is sustained by the mutual interest of members. If there is
no common interest, there won’t be a team.
4. Recognition as a team: To be a team, the individuals involved must perceive themselves as a
team.

3.3. What is the different between Teams and Groups?

The terms group and team are not synonymous. A group consists of any number of people who interact
with one another are psychologically aware of one another and think of themselves as a group. To deal
with groups appropriately managers must have a thorough understanding of the nature of groups in
organizations. While as we have seen in the definition of team; a team is a group whose members
influence one another toward the accomplishment of organizational objective.

Not all groups in organizations are teams, but all teams are groups. A group qualifies as a team only if its
members focus on helping one another to accomplish organizational objectives. In today’s rapidly
changing business environment, teams have emerged as a requirement for success. Therefore, good
managers constantly try to help groups becomes teams.

The purpose of assembling a team is to accomplish bigger goals than any that would be impossible for the
individual working alone. The aim and purpose of a team is to perform, get results and achieve victory in
the workplace and marketplace. The very best managers are those who can gather together a group of
individuals and mould them into a team. Here are ten key major features that differentiate group from
team.

1. Ownership. In a group, members tend to focus on themselves because they are not sufficiently
involved in planning the unit's objectives. In a team, members feel a sense of ownership for their
jobs and unit, because they are committed to values-based common goals that they helped
establish.

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2. Understandings. In a group, members think they are grouped together for administrative purposes
only. In a team, members recognize their independence and understand both personal and team
goals are best accomplished with mutual support
3. Creativity and Contribution. In a group, members are told what to do rather than being asked
what the best approach would be. Suggestions and creativity are not encouraged. In a team,
members contribute to the organization’s success by applying their unique talents, knowledge and
creativity to team objectives.
4. Trust. In a group, members distrust the motives of colleagues because they do not understand the
role of other members. Expressions of opinion or disagreement are considered divisive or non-
supportive. In a team, members work in a climate of trust and are encouraged to openly express
ideas, opinions, disagreements and feelings. Questions are welcomed.
5. Common Understandings. In a group, members are so cautious/care about what they say, that
real understanding is not possible. Game playing may occur and communication traps be set to
catch the unwary/careless. In a team, members practice open and honest communication. They
make an effort to understand each other's point of view.
6. Personal Development. In a group, members receive good training but are limited in applying it
to the job by the manager or other group members. In a team, members are encouraged to
continually develop skills and apply what they learn on the job. They perceive they have the
support of the team.
7. Conflict Resolution. In a group, members find themselves in conflict situations they do not know
how to resolve. Their supervisor/leader may put off intervention until serious damage is done, i.e. a
crisis situation. In a team, members realize conflict is a normal aspect of human interaction but
they view such situations as an opportunity for new ideas and creativity. They work to resolve
conflict quickly and constructively
8. Participative Decision Making. In a group, members may or may not participate in decisions
affecting the group. In a team, members participate in decisions affecting the team but understand
their leader must make a final ruling whenever the team cannot decide, or an emergency exists.
Positive win/win results are the goal at all times.
9. Clear Leadership. In a group, members tend to work in an unstructured environment with
undetermined standards of performance. Leaders do not walk the talk and tend to lead from behind
a desk. In a team, members work in a structured environment, they know what boundaries exist
and who has final authority. The leader sets agreed high standards of performance and he/she is
respected via active, willing participation. In short, we can put in the following way.
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 Difference between group & team

No Criteria Group Team

1 Understanding Think as they are grouped together for Recognize their independence and
administration purpose understand both personal and team goal
best
2 Ownership Members tend to focus on themselves Members feel sense of ownership for
because don’t have involvement in their job/their unit they committed for
planning. Lack of ownership for group common goals
goal.
3 Creativity and Tend to do what they are told to do Members contribute to the
contribution because suggestion and creativity are not organization success by applying their
encouraged unique talent knowledge and creativity to
team objective
4 Trust Members distrust the motive of their Members work in climate of trust and
colleague because they don’t understand are encouraged to open express idea,
others role. Expression of opinion or opinion. Questions are welcome.
disagreement is considered as a divisive or Difference is taken as opportunity for
non supportive. creativity or change
5 Common Real common understanding is not Members practice open and honest
understanding possible/frustrations communication ,and there is real
understanding
6 Personal Members receive good training but are Members are encouraged to
development limited in applying it to the job by continually develop skill and apply what
managers/or other group members. they learn on the job
7 Conflict Members find themselves in conflict Members realize conflict is normal
resolution situation; and they don’t know how to aspect of human interaction but they view
resolve as opportunity for new idea/creativity.
They work to resolve conflict.
Participation in Members may not participate in Members are participate in decisions
8 decision decisions that affect the group that affect the group; but know that the
marketing leader can make a decision whenever
team members can’t decide
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9 Clear leadership Members tend to work in unstructured Members tend to work in structured
environment with undetermined standard. environment with determined standard.
Leaders don’t walk the talk and tend to Leaders do walk the talk k(They change
lead from behind desk(simply talk but their talk into practices)
don’t show in practices)

3.5. Stages in Team Development

More and more managers are using work teams to accomplish organizational tasks. Simply establishing
such a team, however, doesn’t guarantee it will be productive. In fact, managers should be patient when an
established work team is not initially productive, for teams generally need to pass through several
developmental stages before they become productive. Managers must understand this developmental
process so they can facilitate it.

High performing teams don’t just spring up ready to go. It takes time, energy, experience, and learning for
a group of people who come together as a team to learn how to operate as well functioning unit.

It is useful for anyone who is trying to start a team or who is going to be member of one to understand
these team development stages. In this way team member won’t have their expectations shattered when
things don’t go so smoothly at the beginning. At each stage we can expect different behaviors. Some have
to do with getting used to each other. Some have to do with creating modes of working together. And
some have to do with getting on with the tasks and objectives for which the team was formed in the first
place in this terminology of teams, the five stages of team development are forming, storming, norming,
performing, and adjourning.

1. Forming/Dependency/ Stage

Just as the name implies, this is the first stage of the team development process. This is the initial
orientation period. During this stage, members of the newly formed team become oriented to the team
and notified with one another. This period is characterized by exploring issues related to the member’s
new job situation, such as what is expected of them, who has what kind of authority within the team,
what kind of people are team members, and what skills team members possess.

The forming stage of team development is usually characterized by uncertainty & stress. Recognizing
that team members are struggle to adjust to their new work situations and to one another, managers
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should be tolerant of extensive, informal discussions exploring team specifics and not regard them as
time wasters.

They are asking the question about what their task is and how they are going to organize themselves to
achieve this goal. If the team can articulate a clear sense of purpose of itself, this makes the rest of the
stages go more smoothly. This stage is complete when the members begin to see themselves as a part of
the group.

2. Storming Stage

After a team has formed, it being to storm, storming, this stage is characterized by conflict and
disagreement as team members become more assertive in clarifying their individual roles. During this
stage, the team seems to lack unity because members are continually challenging the way the team
functions and they may realize that it is more difficult than they imagined. They still don’t have their
roles figured out. At this time, it’s normal for members to become a little defensive because they are not
making progress as quickly they would like. They are not sure how it’s all going to work out, and they
might become restless and impatient.

When this uncertainty about the team creeps in, members typically fall back on their personal &
professional experiences and sick to push their own views onto the whole group rather than hearing what
others have to say. There may be open conflicts and competition among team members as different
members try to assert their individual view points.

The storming stage can be lengthy, but members have to stick with it. At the same time this stage can be
short or perhaps even skipped if the team has done a good job at the forming stages of articulating its
mission and purpose.

3. Norming Stage

It is the third stage of the team development process, team members begin to settle differences among
themselves and finally get used to working together. They accept each other, their roles, norms, rules,
expectations and acceptable behavior while working on the team. As this happens, the team members’
initial resistance to working together fades away and competitive relationships become more
cooperative.

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In the norming stage, members begin to appreciate that other have a contribution to make and that they
can learn from each other. They start looking at their process for interacting and may set up ground rules
for guiding these interactions.

This stage is characterized by the idea of cohesion/unity. Members being identify with the team and feel
a bond with other team members. But the norming stage might not arrive if the team does not have a
clear sense of purpose for itself.

4. Performing

At this stage, the team members have prepared to accept most of their differences, and they become
comfortable with each other. They have discovered and they accept each other’s strengths and
weaknesses. The team fully focuses on solving organizational problems and on meeting assigned
challenges. The team is now productive after successfully passing through the earlier stage of team
development, it knows itself and has settled on teams’ roles, expectations and norms.

They communicate openly with one another and have developed methods and techniques for effectively
interacting with one another. They know how to constructively disagree with one another and how to
resolve these disagreements in ways that lead to productive actions.

Another way to characterize this stage is interdependency. Members know their role is to contribute, to
help the team performs well as a team, they develop a close attachment to the team, they gained insight
into personal and team processes, and there is strong feeling of commitment to one another and to their
objectives.

There is no finger pointing when something goes wrong. If one member has a problem, they consider it
the teams’ problem and work together as a team to solve it likewise, when they succeed, the members
give credit to the whole team rather than their individual efforts.

At this stage, we have a team performing at a high level. But in making this observation, it’s still
important to note that they had to go through the stages described here. High performing teams are most
likely to happen in organizations that have a set of values in fasten that support teamwork. Without such
values and the supportive culture that goes with them, people will mainly be going through the motions.
It’s unlikely that the team will ever reach the performing stage.

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 5. Adjourning

The fifth and last stage of team development process is known as adjourning. In this stage, the team
finishes its job and preparing to disband. This stage normally occurs only in teams established for some
special purpose to be accomplished in a limited time period. Special committees and task groups are
examples of such teams. It is important that management then do everything necessary to integrate these
people in to new teams or other areas of the organization.

Although some work teams don’t pass through everyone of the development stages just described
understanding different stages will give managers many useful insights on how to build productive work
teams.

3.6. Obstacle to team productivity

There are different obstacles for the successfulness of a team. First, Some team fail because their
members are unwilling to cooperate with each others, the second reason why some team are not
effective is that they fail to receive support from management. A third obstacle to team success, and a
relatively common one, is that some managers are unwilling to relinquish control. Fourth, team might
fail not only because their members do not cooperate with each other but also because they fail to
cooperate with other teams. Those obstacles can be divided in to external and internal barriers to team
success.

1. External barriers to teamwork (Adapted from Interaction Associates, 2001)

 Work load: members are often required to work on their team assignments in addition
to a full workload or are given more work than they are capable of handling
 Team does not model the norms of behaviors that support teams in being successful
 Inadequate recognition for individual team members
 Team leaders do not control or release the team members adequately
 Teams are not given adequate resources
 Frequent changes in team membership
 Team’s charter is not well written

1. Internal barriers to teamwork (Adapted from Interaction Associates, 2001)

 Inadequate support from key external stakeholders /Management

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  Team members don’t set appropriate goals for the team and do not implement a
plan for reaching them
 Team members don’t spend enough time planning how they will work together
 Team members don’t resolve interpersonal conflict
 Teams members don’t conduct efficient meetings
 Team members don’t have compatible levels of problem-solving, analytic, or project
management skills
 Team members don’t know how to influence the work of other members
 Lack of consistent or clear team leadership
 Inability to make decision effectively as a group

Mostly we only see the effect of the problem, like in the above example; where those team members
not present didn't produce a result, which was caused by a lack of communication. We've refined the
cause of problems that interrupt team performance down to these 6 factors:

1. Fear - the most common cause of poor team performance is real or perceived fear. The fears can be
personal or shared by the entire team. To overcome these fears skilled team leaders can assist
individuals and the team to identify their fears, understand the cause of the fear and create a plan to
reduce or eliminate it. Then there is also the fear of the external environment, which can be reduced by
creating shared objectives and goals. Along with identifying the actions the team could take it would
give the team a common bond and help them overcome their fears.

2. Internal conflict - is an enormous source of underperformance in many teams. Conflict occurs

most commonly when there are no ground rules and problems are not dealt with or cleared up as soon
as they arise. Creating a Team Code of Practice will assist teams to reduce conflict by giving team
members a pre-determined set of rules to abide by and to use in conflicting situations.

3. Lack of direction - can easily sabotage team performance without team members being aware of it.
If the team leader, manager or leaders of the organization are not clear on the direction they are
heading in, their teams will simply follow in their footsteps. Direction must be set by the leadership
and consistently communicated to everyone in the team.

4. Lack of communication - amongst team members and from the leadership to the employees
remains one of the biggest problems in managing and increasing team performance. When people are
not adequately informed there is an increase in mistakes, poor decision making, poor customer service
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 and more. Multiple channels of communication that are open to communication passing in both
directions are a critical part of increasing team performance.

5. Lack of trust - between management and staff or amongst team members create a negative curved
that can be difficult to reverse. When there is sufficient reason for people to stop trusting each other it
can take a long time to re-establish that trust and get the team back to a higher level of performance.
It's very important that team leaders and managers avoid this scenario because the consequences
can be devastating and long term.

6. Divisive culture - occurs in teams where there is no agreed set of values to guide the culture. This
results in the most dominant people creating team culture which can quickly divide the team. For instance
dominant leaders and managers can alienate some or all team members by not facilitating a process that
develops team culture. From the leaders or managers viewpoint it may seem to be an effective form of
team management and control, but it usually has the effect of reducing productivity and performance.
Ensure you're building an inclusive culture in your business and amongst your teams.

If you are experiencing low levels of team performance consider the list of causes above and ask yourself
if any of them could be the reason. Take some time to step back and truly analyze the cause, either by
listening and observing or asking questions. Once you've identified the cause you'll need to make
decisions and take action that will give you a different result. As far you involve your team in this process
possibly you'll gain far more than you would believe.
3.6. Increasing Performance Team

Increasing team’s performance is not an easy task, because success is not automatic event. Rather, it
needs to be carefully nurtured and maintained for them to accomplish their missions. Experiences in a
team work showed us that successful teams can be established by the following approaches:

 Provide training in team skills: in order to be effective in team work, team members must have
the right blend of needed for the team to contribute to the groups’ mission. Formal efforts to direct
toward making teams effectives are referred to team building. The key areas of team training are:
Being a team member and self management.
 Compensate team performance: In order to increase teams effort, an organization should give
recognition to teams effort, design skill based or performance based pay system, design gain –
sharing plan
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  Provide support: to a team survive, it is essential for them to receive unqualified support from top
management. Besides support team members should share a common vision and are committed to
attain it, they are generally very cooperative with one another, leading to success.
 Communicate the urgency of the team’s mission: Knowing the mission of the organization will
stimulate employees to work toward the attainment of it.
 Promote cooperation within and between teams: Team success requires not only cooperation
within the team, but also between teams as well in the organizations. Research showed the most
team fall because organizations do not know to make them work together with other teams.
 Select team members based on their skills: In order to be successful, team demand that they work
together closely on a widely variety of tasks, it is essential for team to have a complementary set of
skill. This includes not only job skill but also interpersonal skills.
 All for One and One for All: Teams should be evaluated, rewarded and feedback, as a group. Each
team member should also receive feedback on an individual basis. When it comes to poor
performance, unless it is the instance where it is obvious that the poor performance of one team
member is affecting the whole team, it should be addressed to the group.
 Discussing Poor Performance with a Team: This means addressing the poor performance to the
team in a group forum, perhaps a team meeting. Make it clear that it is the overall performance of
the team that is concerning; it is important not to single people out individually.

Discuss with the team reasons why performance is unacceptable. Perhaps the group is struggling with
issues and they need your help to resolve them. Don’t assume that you have all the answers: give the
team the opportunity to explore ideas and you might be surprised with some of their suggestions. As
the manager of the team it is likely that you will have particular actions you will want to see happen.
Don't allow team members to point fingers at each other, the objective is to understand why the team is
performing poorly, not to hold individuals responsible.

3.7 Determinants of High-Performing Teams: (The Four Cs)

Over the past several decades, as we have consulted with teams and conducted research on team
performance, we have come to the conclusion that there are four factors—four “C”s—that must be
understood and managed for teams to achieve superior performance. These factors,
1. The context for the team
2. The composition of the team
3. The competencies of the team
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 4. The change management skills of the team
We will describe each of these factors briefly here,

1. Context for the Team: team context refers to the organizational environment in which the team must
work. Understanding context, and how it influences team performance, experience has shown that the
teamwork required to achieve high-performance is much more important when the team must complete a
complex task characterized by a high degree of interdependence.

High-performing teams manage context effectively by

(1) Establishing measurable team performance goals that are clear and compelling,
(2) Ensuring that team members understand that effective teamwork is critical to meeting those
goals,
(3) Establishing reward systems that reward team performance more than individual
(4) Eliminating roadblocks to team work that formal organization structures might create, and
(5) Establishing an organizational culture that supports teamwork-oriented processes and
behaviors

2. Composition of the Team

The composition of the team concerns the skills and attitudes of team members. You have to have the
“right people on the bus” to make things happen as a team and achieve top performance.
Of course, “team composition” also refers to assembling a group of individuals with complementary
skills. High-performing teams use the complementary skills and abilities of each team member in a
synergistic way to achieve high performance. Team members of high-performing teams clearly understand
their roles and assignments and carry them out with commitment.

Team size
Team size also plays a significant role in team effectiveness. A team that is too large may be unwieldy and
cause team members to lose interest due to a lack of individual involvement. Having too few team
members may place unnecessary burdens on individual team members, and the team may not have the
resource seeded to accomplish its goals. What is the optimal size of an effective team? There is no clear
answer to this question because the optimal size is determined in part by the nature of the task. Some
managers like large teams because they feel that large teams generate more ideas and call attention to the
importance of the project. Moreover, some managers feel that putting people on a team will be a good
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experience for them, and they don’t want to leave anyone out. However, in general small teams are
preferable to large teams and there are rules of thumb and certain pitfalls to avoid in determining team
size. We find that large teams (typically over ten people) have lower productivity than smaller teams.
Research reported in suggests that “serious deterioration in the quality and productivity of team
interactions sets in when there are more than 12 to 14members of the team.”3 The greater the number of
team members, the more difficult it is to achieve a common understanding and agreement about team
goals and team processes. Large teams lead to less involvement on the part of team members and hence
lower commitment and participation, which in turn leads to lower levels of trust. Although team’s size
clearly should be determined by the nature of the task involved, much of the research suggests that the
most productive teams have between four and ten members
2. Competencies of the Team
We have found that successful teams have certain competencies that exist independent of any single
member of the team but are embedded in the team’s formal and informal processes—its way of
functioning.

3. Change Management Skills of the Team

High-performing teams must change and adapt to new conditions to be effective over time. Factors related
to team context, composition, and competencies may need to be changed for the team to succeed in
reaching a new goal. A team that is able to monitor its performance and understand its strengths and
weaknesses can generate insights needed to develop a plan of action to continually improve. It is possible
to view “change management skills” as just another team competency, but this “meta-competency”—what
we call “team-building skills”—is so important that it deserves special attention.

3.8 Reasioons fro Group Formation

i. Socialization: Man is a social being. He wants to socialize with others. Being a member of as
number of informal groups allows him to satisfy his social needs on the job. He can interact with
others rather than working in isolated loneliness.

ii. Sense of identification: Many people have an urge to be identified as members of a distinct group.
So they form special groups as cricket club, literary society, etc. This might also help in increasing
their status.

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iii. Goal achievement: People form groups to pool talents, knowledge, and resources to achieve a
common goal or interest. People doing a common task confront similar types of problems. To remove
such problems, they can constitute separate group.
iv. Monotonous Jobs: Workers performing routine jobs often feel bored. In order to reduce their
mental fatigue at work, they may form informal groups and have interaction with each other at the
work place at frequent intervals.

v. Security: There is strength in numbers by joining a group; a person can reduce the insecurity of
standing alone. Groups help the members to meet pressures effectively.

vi. Source of information: A piece of information available to a member will reach nearly all the
members of the group in a short span of time.
vii. Sharing job knowledge: Group allows sharing job knowledge and taking decisions, which affect
a number of jobs.

viii. Medium of change: Group can be used as a medium of change. The group should be kept fully
informed about the need for change, plans for change and consequences of change.

ix. Tool or media for obtaining the organizational goals: The goals of the group should be set in
such a manner that they are in conformity with the organizational goals. The whole group should be
motivated and convinced about the need to achieve the organizational goals.

3.9 Group Cohesiveness

The term cohesiveness is understood as the extent of liking each member has towards others and how
far everyone wants to remain as a member of the group.
It is the degree to which members are attached to and motivated to remain part of a group.
Members of the group feel highly attached to the group and attracted towards each other. It refers to
the degree of camaraderie within the group. Cohesive groups are those in which members are attached
to each other and act as one unit.
Members of highly cohesive groups are more energetic in group activities, are less likely to be absent
from group meetings, are happy when the group succeeds, and sad when it fails, and so on.
3.9.1 Factors, which influence group cohesiveness:

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i. Individual’s Dependency on a Group: The greater an individual’s dependence on the group for
need satisfaction, the greater the group attractiveness for him.

ii. Group Size: Group cohesiveness depends upon the size of the group.
Larger the size of the group, the less cohesive the group is. It is for this reason that generally, informal
groups tend to be smaller.
iii. Frequency of Interactions: Group cohesiveness depends upon frequency of interactions among
members.
If members are located in isolated places, interactions will be less and group cohesiveness will be low.
iv. Member Turnover: More frequently members leave a particular group, the more time a new
member takes to get attached to the group and hence, the less cohesive a group becomes.

v. Intra group Competition: Group cohesiveness is low if members are competing amongst
themselves. If mutual jealousies develop and they serve as roadblocks to each other and consequently,
the group is weakened.

vi. Inter group Competition: When two groups compete, members of each group get united and the
group gets solidified. A policy of “united they stand and divided they fall” prevails.
vii. Group Success: If a group wins in an inter group competition, it gets further strengthened. If it
loses, it gets weakened and if members do not see any hope of revival of its prestige, they leave the
group at a time when it needs them the most.

viii. Differentiation in Goals and Strategies: In case members have different views regarding group
goals or there exists an incongruity between an individual member’s own goals and the group goals,
that is, the member does not see group goals furthering his own goals and probably fears them
obstructing his individual goals, group cohesiveness will be low.

3.10 Social Loafing

Social loafing refers to the tendency of individuals to put in less effort when working in a group
context.
This phenomenon, also known as the Ringelmann effect, was first noted by French agricultural
engineer Max Ringelmann in 1913.
In one study, he had people pull on a rope individually and in groups.
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He found that as the number of people pulling increased, the group’s total pulling force was less than
the individual efforts had been when measured alone.
Rationales for this behavior include, “My own effort will have little effect on the outcome,” “Others
aren’t pulling their weight, so why should I?” or “I don’t have much to contribute, but no one will
notice anyway.”

3.11 Team and Team work

A team is a small number of employees with complementary competencies (abilities, skills, and
knowledge) who are committed to common performance goals and working relationships for which
they hold themselves mutually accountable.
A team is defined as a reasonable small group of people, who bring to the table a set of complementary
and appropriate skills, and who hold themselves mutually accountable for achieving a clear and
identifiable set of goals.
When a team is formed, its members must have the right mix of complementary competencies to
achieve the team’s goals. Also, its members need to be able to influence how they will work together
to accomplish those goals.
3.11.1 Team Effectiveness:
i. Well-defined purpose or vision: Goals are aligned with the team purpose and team members are
empowered to accomplish the goals.
ii. Team goals: Team goals are developed through a group process of team interaction and agreement
in which each team member is willing to work toward achieving these goals.
iii. Challenging Goals: If goals are foggy or too easy to achieve the team will not be motivated to
make the extra effort that separates a high performance team from an ineffective group.
When challenging goals are set the team will mobilize its effort to find innovative ways to achieve
feats that may have been considered impossible.

iv. Team member resources: Team member resources include talents, skills, knowledge, and
experiences are fully identified, recognized, and used whenever appropriate.

v. Role clarity: Team members can work together as a team only after all the members of the group
know the roles of all the others with whom they will be interacting.

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 When this understanding exists, members can act immediately as a team based on the requirements
of that situation, without waiting for someone to give an order.

vi. Supportive environment: Supportive environment contribute to cooperation, trust, and

compatibility, supervisors need to develop an organizational culture that builds these conditions.

vii. Team rewards: These may be financial, or they may be in the form of recognition.
Innovative team rewards for responsible behavior may include the authority to select new members of
the team, make recommendations regarding a new supervisor, or propose discipline for team members.
viii. Positive approach: Team members should adopt positive approach and commit to use their
resources, knowledge and skills to contribute to the goals of the team, alignment with the team's
overall purpose comes about.
This will not happen unless both the team leader and team members choose to do so.

ix. Positive attitude: Team members have a positive attitude toward change and are willing to accept
and allow change to occur as needed in order to accomplish desired results.

x. Supports: Team members verbally and publicly support each other. They recognize that negative
comments about others tear the team down.
xi. Hard Work: The team must work hard. The team must be able to develop appropriate approaches
to problem solving. This depends on developing a plan of attack and using appropriate techniques for
analysis.

xii. Motivation: The characteristics of the job should provide motivation.

The job should require a variety of high-level skills to make it interesting. It needs to be a whole piece
of work with a clear and visible outcome so that people can feel a sense of ownership.
xiii. Patience: Team members understand that patience is required, and that for some goals, a long-
term commitment is needed to accomplish the desired results.
xiv. Participation: Participation is actively shown by all team members and roles are shared to
facilitate the accomplishment of tasks and feelings of group togetherness.
Team decision-making involves a process that encourages active participation by all members.

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xv. Problem solving: Problem solving, discussing team issues, and critiquing team effectiveness are
encouraged by all team members.

xvi. Leadership: Leadership is distributed and shared among team members and individuals willingly
contribute their resources as needed.
xvii. Conflict: Team members are allowed to express negative feelings and confrontation within the
team, which is managed and dealt with by team members.
Dealing with and managing conflict is seen as a way to improve team performance.

xviii. Strong feeling of control: A well-functioning team is that the members have a strong feeling of
control within the team.
They are able to establish priorities and then commit time and resources for accomplishing these tasks.

xix. Risk taking and creativity: Risk taking and creativity are encouraged. When mistakes are made,
they are treated as a source of learning rather than reasons for punishment.

3.11.2 Role of Team Leader:

i. Working climate: Try to create a working climate that is formal and relaxed.
Before taking any decision consult your team members the course of action to be taken.
You will be surprised to see that your team members will come up with many brilliant ideas.

ii. Clear objective: Make sure that objective of your group or the objectives that you have set to be
achieved are clearly defined and understood by members of your team.
Then only your team members would be able to contribute their best.

iii. avoiding Overriding role: Do not allow one team member to assume overriding role.
Your priority and importance to a particular member of group create bias and irritation in the minds of
others.

iv. Trust and faith: If you trust your colleagues/subordinates, they will in turn trust their superiors.
If you always suspect their motives and try to keep checks on them, you might end up with a lot of
disgruntled employees who will only reciprocate your mistrust.
v. Approachable: You must not live in any ivory tower, i.e., in an isolated world.
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You must always be approachable and within reach of your colleagues whenever they seek guidance
and support.

vi. Open communication: Encourage open communication and create atmosphere that fosters free
expression of criticism and disagreements.
Be generous with positive feedback. Job is well done, say so.
If situation so demands you can even reprimand your subordinates for correcting the wrongs, but do
remember that people will be willing to take negative feedback only if we appreciate their good points
also.
vii. Personal rapport: You must have personal rapport with each one of the employees.
Develop interest in your employee and listen to their problems, needs and grievance.
Your interest in them will enable you to find the cause of absenteeism, indifference, non-participation
in work, etc.

viii. Delegate responsibility: Remember you are not the only person having qualities of initiative and
imagination.
Many of your subordinates may be quite capable. Make use of their capabilities by utilizing them with
responsible jobs.
A manager, who does not delegate, not only cripples himself but also cripples others.
ix. Self-control: A secret of getting along with people successfully is to exercise self-control.
A few words said in anger can create enormous damage. First cool down, think rationally, and then
take action.
x. Role model: You must set an example for others. The way you talk, behave and conduct yourself, is
being watched all the times. If you set a good example, your subordinate will also follow suit.
Remember your action communicates more than your speech.

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Chapter Questions

1. This team development stage is characterized by conflict and disagreement as team members
become more assertive in clarifying their individual roles.
A. Forming B. Norming C. adjourning D. Storming
2. A type of group which is formed by the will of the management and has a clear authority
responsibility relationship with clear structure and assigned job to achieve is…?
A. Formal group B. informal group C. team work D. all
3. One of the following is not a major characteristic of forming stage in team development?
A. Introduction of members B. confusion over roles C. silence and politness D. actue
conflict.
4. Teams are different from Groups in that teams ….
A. Feel more ownership B. synergy C. Collective risk taking D. less trust among team
members
5. It is cammadare or unity of group mmebrs to feel high degree of attachment and stay for
long in the Group>
A. Social loafing B. group think C. Storming D. Group cohesiveness

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 CHAPTER FOUR:

MOTIVATION

Chapter Objectives

After the end of this session, the students will able:

 Define motivation
 Explain the different theories of motivation

 Explain the implication of motivation in stimulating employees

INTRODUCTION

Motivation is the process of stimulating a person's inner drives so that he/she wants to accomplish the goals
of the organization. Motivation concern itself with the will to work. It seeks to know the incentives for work
and tries to find out the ways and means whereby their realization can be helped and encouraged. Managers,
by definition, are required to work with and through people, so they must gain at least some understanding
of the forces that will motivate the people they are to manage. People are complex and they are uniquely
different. What motivates one person may not motivate another. Most successful managers have learned to
understand the concept of human motivation and are able to use that understanding to achieve higher
standards of subordinate work performance.

4.1. DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION

"Motivation" is a Latin word, meaning "to move". Human motives are internalized goals within individuals.
Motivation may be defined as those forces that cause people to behave in certain ways. Motivation

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encompasses all those pressures and influences that trigger, channel, and sustain human behavior. Most
successful managers have learned to understand the concept of human motivation and are able to use that
understanding to achieve higher standards of subordinate work performance.

Motivation has been defined by Michael J Juicus as "the act of stimulating someone or oneself to get a
desired course of action. Motivation is something that moves the person to action, and continuous him in
the course of action already initiated”.

According to William G Scott, "Motivation means a process of stimulating people to act to accomplish
desired goals.” In the words of C. B. Mamoria - Motivation is - "a willingness to expend energy to achieve a
goal or reward. It is a force that activates dormant energies and sets in motion the action of the people.
Motivation is a process by which a need or desire is aroused and a psychological force within our mind sets
us in motion to fulfill our needs and desire. An unsatisfied need becomes the motive for a person to spend
his energy in order to achieve a goal. In a business organization the 4 P's praise, prestige promotion and pay
are the best positive motivators.

In short motivation can be defined is the process of stimulating people to take action to accomplish desired
goals. It is also refers the forces with in a person that affect his/her direction, intensity and persistence of
voluntary behavior.. Motivation is very important in any kind of organization because, it is difficult to get
the work done without proper involvement of motivated people. Motivated employees are willing to exert a
particular level effort (intensity) for a certain amount of time (persistence), towards a particular goal
(direction)

4.2. NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF MOTIVATION

Psychologists generally agree that all behavior is motivated, and that people have reasons for doing the
things they do or for behaving in the manner that they do. Motivating is the work a manager performs to
inspire, encourage and impel/push people to take required action. The process of motivation is characterized
by the following:-

FEATURES OF MOTIVATION

1. Motivation is an Internal Feeling: Motivation is a psychological phenomenon which generates in the

mind of an individual; the Feeling that he lacks certain things and needs those things. Motivation is a force
within an individual that drives him to behave in a certain way.

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 2. Motivation is related to Needs: Needs are deficiencies which are created whenever there is a
physiological or psychological imbalance. In order to motivate a person, we have to understand his needs
that call for satisfaction.

3. Motivation Produces Goal-Directed Behavior: Goals are anything which will alleviate a need and
reduce a drive. An individual's behavior is directed towards a goal.

4. Motivation can be either Positive or Negative: Positive or incentive motivation is generally based on
reward. According to Flippo -"positive motivation is a process of attempting to influence others to do your
will through the possibility of gain or reward”. Negative or fear motivation is based on force and fear.
Negative (fear) motivation causes persons to act in a certain way because they are afraid of the
consequences if they don't.

5. It should satisfy the needs and objectives of both organization and employees.

6. It should change with the changes in the situation.

7. The motivational system should satisfy the different needs of employees. It should be directly related to
the efforts of the employers.

8. The motivational system should be simple so that it is easily understood by the workers.

4.3. IMPORTANCE AND BENEFITS OF MOTIVATION

The primary task of any manager is to motivate others to perform the tasks of the organization. Therefore,
the manager must find the keys to get subordinates to come to work regularly and on time, to work hard, and
to make positive contributions towards the effective and efficient achievement of organizational objectives.
Motivation is an effective instrument in the hands of a manager for inspiring/stimulating the work force and
creating confidence in it. By motivating the work force, management creates "will to work" which is
necessary for the achievement of organizational goals. The various benefits of motivation are:-

1. Motivation is one of the important elements in the directing process: By motivating the workers, a
manager directs or guides the workers' actions in the desired direction for accomplishing the goals of the
organization.

2. To attain high performance level: Motivation tends to improve worker skills and knowledge so that
they are able to contribute to the progress of the organization thereby increasing productivity.

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3. Minimize employee’s turnover: Workers who are motivated are highly satisfied with their work and do
not escape from their duty and available in their work. Motivated workers will not resign from their
organization.

4. Increase Willingness to work: Without willingness to work, ability to work is of no use. The willingness
to work can be created only by motivation.

5. Enhancing Organizational effectiveness: Motivated worker work without any reservation of ability,
time and resource, as the result of this it will boost organizational effectiveness. Motivate workers are
seeing organizational failing as their failing.

6. Promote good industrial relations: Motivation contributes to create good industrial relations in the
organization. When the workers are motivated, contented/willing and disciplined, the frictions between
the workers and the management will be reduced.

7. Increase acceptance of change: Motivation is the best remedy for resistance to changes. When changes
reintroduced in an organization, generally, there will be resistance from the workers. But if the workers
of an organization are motivated, they will accept, introduce and implement the changes whole heartily
and help to keep the organization on the right track of progress.

8. Minimum wastage: Motivation facilitates the maximum utilization of all factors of production, human,
physical and financial resources because motivated workers consider the organizations resources as their
own resources, and thereby contributes to higher production.

4.4. Type of motives of an individual

The motives of an individual can be primary, general, and secondary.

a. Primary motive

 Are physical, biological or unlearned motives of an individuals

 A motive to be primary motive, it should be unlearned (inborn),and it also must be

physiological(basic)need,

 Include hunger, thirst, sleep, avoidance of pain, sex, maternal concerns.

b. General motives

 Include a number of motives that lie in the grey area between the primary and secondary motives.

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  General motives are unlearned but not physiologically based.

 General motives are some time called stimulus motive

 Include curiosity, manipulation, activity, and affection.

c. Secondary motives

 Are closely related with learning concept.

 Secondary motives include need for power, achievement, affiliation, security, and status,

4.5. TYPES OF MOTIVATION

If a manager wants to get work done by his employees, he may either hold out a promise of a reward
(positive motivation) or he may install fear (negative motivation). Both these types are widely used by
managements.

1. Positive or Incentive Motivation

This type of motivation is generally based on reward. A positive motivation involves the possibility of
increased motive satisfaction. According to Flippo - "Positive motivation is a process of attempting to
influence others to do your will through the possibility of gain or reward". Incentive motivation is the
"pull" mechanism. .

Positive motivation include:-

 Praise and credit for work done

 Wages and Salaries

 Appreciation or giving recognition

 A sincere interest in subordinates as individuals

 Delegation of authority and responsibility

2. Negative or Fear Motivation

This type of motivation is based on force and fear. Fear causes persons to act in a certain way because
they fear the consequences. Negative motivation involves the possibility of decreased motive satisfaction.
It is a "push" mechanism.

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The imposition of punishment frequently results in frustration among those punished, leading to the
development of maladaptive behavior. It also creates a hostile state of mind and an unfavorable attitude to
the job. However, there is no management which has not used the negative motivation at some time or the
other.

4.5. THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Theories of motivation are fall into two categories as: “Content theories” and “Process” theories.

a. Content theories: Content theories of motivation explain the dynamics of employees need at different
time. By understanding an employee needs, we can discover what motivate that person. Are concerned
with the type of incentives that people like to achieve in order to be satisfied and perform well. It
includes Maslow’s theory of need hierarchy, Herzbegr’s two factors theory, Alderfer’s ERG theory of
need and Mc Clelland’s learned need theories

4.5.1. Maslow's Need-Hierarchy Theory of Motivation

Maslow’s need theory postulates five needs categories: physiological, security, affiliation, esteem, and self-
actualization.

The features of his theory are as follows:-

1. People have a wide range of needs which motivate them to strive/struggle for fulfillment.

2. A satisfied need doesn’t motivate human behavior: When one need is satisfied another needs emerge to
take its place, so, people are always seeking to satisfy some need. Once a need is fairly well satisfied, it
is no longer a stronger motivator of behavior. People are motivated to satisfy only those needs that are
perceived to be deficient.

3. These needs can be arranged into a hierarchy. Physical needs are at the base whereas self-actualization
needs are at the apex. A need at a given level is not activated until the need directly below it is fairly
well gratified. Thus, the person is expected to progress step-by-step up the need hierarchy. The need-
hierarchy theory must not be viewed as a rigid structure to be applied universally in all situations. The
hierarchy represents a typical pattern that operates most of the time.

4. People gratify their physical needs first, when the physiological needs are satisfied, they feel the urge for
the next higher level need.
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5. Relative satisfaction of lower level need is necessary to activate the next higher level need.

NB: Maslow collectively called physiological and safety needs deficiency needs, because, if are meet, an
individual fail to develop in to a healthy person; where as he called Esteem needs and Self-actualization
need- Growth, because both help a person reach his/her full potential.

Managerial implication of Maslow’s needs theory

 Managers can do so many things to fulfilled workers nee in order to motivate their workers.

Example: (1) physiological needs –paying good salary; (2) Safety needs- life& healthy insurance plan,
security guard, &safety equipment ; (3) social needs- preparing picnic programme, visiting programme
& social events.( 4) Esteem need-acknowledgement of workers in front of the workers; providing
distinguished achieving certificate and posting their name on notice board.

 Managers are more able to satisfy their esteem and self actualization need than are lower
level managers.

 Fulfillment of needs differ according to the job of a person performance, age, size of the
company.

4.5.2. Alderfer’s ERG theory of motivation

Alderfer’s instead of the five categories of needs by Maslow’s; he stated that individual has three set of
basic needs: Existence (E), Relatedness(R), and Growth (G).

Alderfer describes them as follow:

1. Existence needs /Material needs: It includes needs which are satisfied by food air, water, and pay fringe
benefit and working conditions. Are similar to Maslow physiological and safety needs.

2. Related needs: include needs for establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationship with co-
workers, supervisors, subordinates, friends and family. Related needs are similar to Maslow’s affiliation
needs

3. Growth needs: Include needs that are expressed by an individual’s attempt to find opportunity for
unique personal development by making creative or productive contribution. Growth needs are similar
to Maslow’s esteem and Self-actualization.

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NB: Alderfer’s ERG theory states that an employee’s behavior is motivated simultaneously by more than
one need level. Thus, you might try to satisfy your growth needs even though your relatedness needs are
not completely satisfied.

4.5.3. Hertzberg's Theory of Motivation

Hertzberg developed a theory of motivation on the premise that human nature has two separate elements -
The motivators and maintenance factors. According to this theory of motivation the items that
determine job content are considered motivational factors (Achievement, recognition, responsibility,
advancement and the work itself.) The elements that influence the job context are the hygiene or
maintenance factors e.g.:-company policy, salary, inter-personal relations, working conditions etc. They
must be adequate and if they are absent or inadequate, they will create dissatisfaction.

a. Hygiene Factors: Hygiene factors represent the need to avoid pain in the environment. They are not an
intrinsic part of a job, but they are related to the conditions under which a job is performed. They are
associated with negative feelings. They must be viewed as preventive measures that remove sources of
dissatisfaction from environment. Hertzberg believed that hygiene factors created a zero level of
motivation and if maintained at proper level prevents negative type of motivation from occurring.

Thus, hygiene factors, when absent, increase dissatisfaction with the job. When present, help in preventing
dissatisfaction but do not increase satisfaction or motivation.

b. Motivators: Motivators are associated with positive feelings of employees about the job. They make
people satisfied with their job. Motivators are necessary to keep job satisfaction and job performance
high. On the other hand, if they are not present they do not prove highly satisfying. Motivational factors
or satisfiers are directly related to job content itself, the individual's performance of it, its responsibilities
and the growth and recognition obtained from it. Motivators are intrinsic to the job.

Thus, when motivators are absent, prevent both satisfaction and motivation. When, motivators are present,
they lead to satisfaction and motivation.

B. Process theories of Motivation

: Process theories of motivation do not directly explain how needs emerge, instead, they describe process
which needs are translated into behavior. It explains why some one with a particular need engage in a
particular direction, intensity. Process theories of motivation are concerned with answering the questions
of how individual behavior is energized, directed, maintained and stopped. Motivation to work is very
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 complex. There are many internal and environmental variables that affect the motivation to work. It
includes Vroom’s theory of work motivation and Mc Gregor’s theory of “X” and”Y”.

4.5.4. Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory was developed by Victor H Vroom. It is based on the notion that human behavior
depends on people's expectations concerning their ability to perform tasks and to receive desired
rewards. The expectancy theory argues that the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends in
the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness
of the outcome to the individual. It includes three variables which Vroom refers to as –

(i) Valance: Valence means the strength of an individual's preference for a particular outcome. A valence of
zero occurs when the individual is indifferent towards the outcome. The valance is negative when the
individual prefers not attaining the outcome to attaining it.

(ii) Instrumentality: Instrumentality refers to the relationship between performance and reward. It refers to
a degree to which a first level outcome (e.g.:-superior performance) will lead to a desired second level
outcome (e.g.:- promotion). If people perceive that their performance is adequately rewarded the
perceived instrumentality will be positive. On the other hand, if they perceive that performance does not
make any difference to their rewards, the instrumentality will be low.

(iii) Expectancy: People have expectancies about the likelihood that an action or effort on their part will
lead to the intended performance. Workers will be motivated by the belief that their performance will
ultimately lead to payoffs for them. Expectancy is the probability that a particular action will lead to a
particular first level outcome.

In sum, Vroom emphasizes the importance of individual perceptions and assessments of organizational
behavior. The key to "expectancy" theory is the "understanding of individual's goals" - and the linkage
between "effort" and "performance" between” performance" and "rewards" and between "rewards" and
"individual-goal satisfaction”. It is a contingency model, which recognizes that there is no universal
method of motivating people. Because we understand what needs an employee seeks to satisfy does not
ensure that the employee himself perceives high job performance as necessarily leading to the
satisfaction of these needs.
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4.5.5. McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y

Different styles of management have a different bearing on the motivation of workers in the organization.
The style adopted by a manager in managing his subordinates is basically dependent upon his assumption
about human behavior. Theory X is negative, traditional and autocratic style while Theory Y is positive,
participatory and democratic. Thus, these labels describe contrasting set of assumptions about human
nature.

Douglas McGregor has classified the basic assumption regarding human nature into two parts and has
designated them as 'theory X’ and 'theory Y'.

Theory X assumption: This is the traditional theory of human behavior, which makes the following
assumptions about human nature:

1. Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive enterprises -money, material,
equipment, and people - in the interest of economic ends.

2. With reference to people it is a process of directing their efforts, motivating them, controlling their
actions, modifying their behavior in order to be in conformity with the needs of the organization.

3. Without this active intervention by management, people would be passive – even resistant to
organizational needs. Hence they must be persuaded, rewarded, punished and properly directed.

4. The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.

5. He lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility and prefers to be led.

6. He is inherently self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs.

7. He is by nature resistant to change.

8. He is gullible, not very bright.

Theory Y assumption: The assumption of theory Y, according to McGregor are as follows:-

1. Work is as natural as play or rest, provided the conditions are favorable; the average human being does
not inherently dislike work.

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 2. External control and the thrust of punishment are not the only means for bringing about efforts towards
organizational objectives. Man can exercise self-control and self-direction in the service of objectives
to which he is committed.

3. Commitment to objectives is a result of the rewards associated with their achievement. People select
goals for themselves if they see the possibilities of some kind of reward that may be material or even
psychological.

4. The average human being, under proper conditions does not shirk responsibility, but learn not only to
accept responsibility but also to seek it.

5. He has capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the
solution of organizational problems in widely, not narrowly distributed in the population.

6. Under conditions of modern industrial life the intellectual potentialities of people are only partially
utilized. As a matter of fact, men, have unlimited potential.

METHODS OF MOTIVATING PEOPLE

Several factors influence human behavior. There are numerous drives and needs which can act as good
motivators moving people to work and getting things done through the mass per the plan. People
respond to physiological needs, social needs and egoistic needs. Human needs and desires are the door
ways through which the manager channelises his motivation efforts. There are three types of
motivational programs to improve a person's behavior towards his job. These are:- 1. Pay
incentive plans,

2. Job enrichment and

3. Management by objectives.

SUMMARY: People are complex and they are uniquely different. What motivates one person may not
motivate another. Most successful managers have learned to understand the concept of human motivation
and are able to use that understanding to achieve higher standards of subordinate work performance.
Motivation is the process of channeling a person's inner drives so that he wants to accomplish the goals of
the organization. Motivation concern itself with the will to work. The Encyclopedia of Management
observes: "Motivation refers to the degree of readiness of an organism to pursue some designated goal,
and implies the determination of the nature and locus of the forces, including the degree of readiness".

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Motivation facilitates the maximum utilization of all factors of production, human, physical and financial
resources and thereby contributes to higher production. Motivation promotes a sense of belonging among
the workers. The workers feel that the enterprise belongs to them and the interest of the enterprise is their
interests. Many organizations are now beginning to pay increasing attention to developing their employees
as future resources upon which they can draw as they grow and develop. If a manager wants to get work
done by his employees, he may either hold out a promise of a reward (positive motivation) or he may
install fear (negative motivation). Both these types are widely used by managements. Positive or Incentive
Motivation is generally based on reward. There are three types of motivational programs to improve a
person's behavior towards his job. These are Pay incentive plans, Job enrichment and Management by
objectives. Motivation to work is very complex. There are many internal and new facts and techniques for
motivation. These theories are termed as theories of motivation.

Chapter Questions

1. Differentiate content theoreies and process theories of motivation

2. Explain the difference between Abreham Maslows thoey of motivation with
two factor theory
3. Explain the the concept of equity theory of motivation
4. What are the different importances and benmefits of motivation at
organization
5. Briefly explain the expectancy theory motivation and provide examples

CHAPTER: FIVE

Conflict Management

Chapter’s objectives

After the end of this session, the students will able:

 Define conflict
 Explain the difference between functional & dysfunctional conflicts
 Describes causes of conflict
 Explain management techniques.
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Definition:

It is a process that begins when one party Perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is
about to affect negatively something that the first party cares about. It is a process in which one party
perceives that another party has taken or will take actions that are incompatible with one’s interest. It
occurs quite commonly in every organization with different level of magnitude due to various
reasons. Research showed that mangers spent 20 percent of their time in dealing with conflict. Conflict
is a perception, so it exists whenever someone believes or feels that another person or group might
hinder its efforts.

5.1. Nature of conflict

o In classical form, conflict often involves antagonistic attitude and behavior,

o The conflicting parties might develop negative attitude for each other,

o It is perception ,so it exists whenever someone believes or feel a that another person/group
might obstruct/disturb its effort, and

o It occurs commonly in every organization with different level,

5.2. Thought in conflict.

There are three different types of school of thought in conflict, Traditional view, The Human relations
and The Interactionist views.

1. The traditional view: (in the 1930s-1940s)

It is the early approach to conflict assumed that all conflicts are bad. Conflict was viewed negatively
and it was used as synonymously with terms such as violence, destruction and irrationality to reinforce
its negative connotation. This school of thought view conflict as harmful and was to be avoided. It was
seen as dysfunctional outcome resulting from poor communication, lack of openness and trust between
people.

2. The human relations view

It argued that conflict was a natural occurrence in all groups and organizations, since conflict was
inventible the human relations school advocated acceptance of conflict. According to this thought,

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conflict can’t be eliminated and there is time when conflict may benefit a group’s or organizational
performance. It was a dominant conflict theory from the late 1940, through the mid of 1970.

3. Interactionists view

The human relation school of thought accept the existence of conflict and the interactionist school of
thought not only accept the existence of conflict but also encourages it on the grounds that
harmonious, peaceful and cooperatives groups is prone to become static, apathetic and non responsive
to need for change and innovation. This thought encouraged group to maintain minimum level of
conflict enough to keep the group viable, and creative. It doesn’t propose that all conflicts are good,
but some are good and others are destructive.

5.3 Functional & dysfunctional conflict

Any conflict can be good or bad. Some conflicts support the goal of the group and improve their
performance; this type conflict is called functional conflict or constructive conflict. There are also
conflicts that hinder group performance, and these are called dysfunctional or destructive form of
conflicts. There are three types of conflict: task conflict (conflict relates to the content and goals of
the work) relationship conflict (conflict due to interpersonal relationship) and process conflict
(conflict relates how the work gets done). Research showed that all relationship conflicts are almost
always dysfunctional because it appears that the friction and interpersonal hostilities inherent in
relationship conflict increase personality clashes and decreases mutual understanding. Low levels of
process conflict and low to moderate level task conflict are functional because they are sources of
change and creativity. SO, the role of managers is to maintain low level process and moderate and
below moderate level of task conflict because others are dysfunctional.

5.4. Causes of conflict

Organizational conflict may come from varieties of causes, including our interactions with other
people and the organization. The most common causes of organizational conflict are mentioned as
follows:

 Ambiguity in goal/role(whenever there is no clear boarder of role, people may practice

conflict)

 Difference in culture:(existence of different culture in an organization may create problem in

work environment)
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  Difference in power (Existence of power difference may be source off conflict, if it is not well
managed.)

 Because of performance criteria (a Performance criterion which is not agreed by all the staff
may creates conflict between people in the organization.)

 Perceptual distortions (when people understand other person badly, there will be conflict )

 Feeling of hostility or ill will against some body (whenever there is enmity between
people ,there may exist conflict)

 Absences of trust between co-workers or between their leader

 Competition over scarce resource ( Absence of sufficient resources is also one sources of
conflict)

 Destructive criticism ( Giving negative criticism may be another sources of conflict)

5.5. Consequences of conflict

The word conflict always brings to our mind only negative image but conflict has also positive side as
well. So, conflict has both negative and positive consequences in work environment.

a. Negative consequences of conflict

 It let people being quite stressful.

 It will divert people attention from their operation or task at hand and let them to think only on
themselves.

 Lower coordination of workers in an organization. (Unmanaged conflict may bring dissolve of

organizations.)

 It will bring costly effect an organizational performance. (If there is continual and
unmanageable conflict in organization, it may also lead the organization to bankruptcies.)

b. Positive consequences of conflict

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 Whenever there is manageable conflict in an organization, it will let people to sit down and discuss
on the issue to resolve it. So, a well managed conflict is used as source of creativity, improves the
quality of organizational performance, brings new way of doing, opportunity for high satisfaction
of customer, and also used to disturb the unchangeable statuesque.

5.5. Managing organizational conflict

As we have said earlier, conflict has benefits and costs, the main tasks facing organization is to
mange it and to minimize those costs and maximize those benefits. Managing conflict involves
identifying the problem, finding a solution that is acceptable to both parties involved, this process
is called Bargaining, or Negotiation. Bargaining is the process by which two or more parties in
dispute with one another exchange offer, counteroffer and concessions in attempt to find a
commonly acceptable agreement. A Negotiation is a process on which both parties get what they
want is called win-win solution. But the result of negotiation will not be always win-win, it may
become win-lose, or lose-lose, but win-win solution is the best and the long last way conflict
resolution method. In order to implement a win –win solution, we have to practice the followings:

Lose- lose approach

o Compromise/middle ground

o Both parties lose something in order to solve the conflicting issue.

o Involve third party

o Resort to bureaucratic rules/regulations

Win-lose

o Parties see things from their view point

o One party may gain while the other is losing

o Conflicts are personalized

Win-Win

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 o It needs creative and innovation to solve the problem rather than beating others

o Needs both parties in conflict situation are meet

1. Avoid making unnecessary offer. Extreme offer may tend to anger the opponent and sometimes
ending the negotiation process.

2. Seek common ground to undertaken the process.

3. Uncover the real issues. Conflict between people may have multiple sources. Finding last solution
to a problem requires identifying all the important issues, even the hidden one and brings them to
the table.

4. Broaden the scope of issues considered: During negotiation, do not narrow the scope of the
discussion when the parties get to bargain across a wide array of issues. It is easier to find solutions
that are acceptable to all side.

5.7. Conflict handling techniques

There are different kinds of conflict handling techniques, among them the most commonly used are
divided in to five types: competing, collaboration, Avoiding, Accommodation /smoothing, and
compromising.

a. Competing

It is conflict handling technique when one person seeks to satisfy his or her own interests regardless of
the impact on other parties to the conflict. It is sometimes called victory by force or domination.
Example: when one person attempting to convince another that his conclusion is correct but other
person ideas are wrong and trying to make someone else accept blame for problem.
b. collaborating

It is conflict handling technique when conflicting parties /persons desire to fully satisfy the concern of
all parties. The conflicting parties are searching for mutually beneficial outcomes.
c. Avoiding

It is a situation, when persons trying to just ignore a conflicting events. It is a system withdraws from
conflict. It is one side solution to conflict.

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d. Accommodating or Smoothing:

It is conflict handling technique when one party seeks to appease an opponent. It is a situation when
one party is willing to be self- sacrificing in order to solve the conflict. It is also one side solution to
conflicting event.
e. Compromise

It is conflict handling technique when each conflicting party to the conflict seeks to give up something
of value to the other in order to solve the problem. In compromising, there is no clear winner or loser.

5.8. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR)

Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a set of processes in which disputing parties work together
with a neutral party that help them settle their disagreements out of court. There are two popular forms
of alternative dispute resolutions: Mediation and Arbitration.

a. MEDIATION: It is a process in which a neutral party (mediator) works together with two or
more parties to reach a settlement to their conflict. Mediator don’t have power to take any
sanction on parties in conflict, cannot impose any agreement, do not consider who is wrong
and who is right but find a resolution, their role is to facilitate to solve their difference.

b. ARBITRATION:- It is the process in which a third party, known as an arbitrator, has the
power to impose or at least to recommend the terms of or agreement between two or more
conflicting parties, there are four types of arbitration:

 Binding

 Voluntary

 conventional,

 Final offer arbitration.

1. Binding arbitration: in this type of arbitrations, two parties agree in advance to accept the
terms set by the arbitrator, whet ever they may be.

2. Voluntary arbitration: in this type arbitration the two sides agree in advance to accept the
terms set by the arbitrator, what ever they may be.
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 3. Conventional arbitration: the arbitrator can offer any package of terms he or she wishes.

4. Final offer arbitration: In this arbitration, final offer made by the disputing parties themselves.

Chapter Questions

o What is conflict?

o Do you think that all conflicts are destructive? Why?

o Human relation thought is different from the internationalist school of thought. Explain?

o What are the main causes of conflict?

o Explain the five conflict handling techniques?

o What are the three types of conflict? Explain each of them?

Chapter Six

Organizational Culture and Change

Chapter Objectives

After completing this chapter studenst will be able to:

Define and understand organizational culture and change

Explain the different types of Organizational culture

Analyze the different types of organizational change

Undesrtand the reasons for resistance to change and overcoming startegies

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 6.1 Organizational or corporate culture is the system of shared actions, values, and beliefs that
develops within an organization and guides the behavior of its members.OC is the pattern of shared
values, beliefs, and assumptions considered to be the appropriate way to think and act within an
organization. The key features of culture are as follows.

6.1.1 Levels of cultural analysis

Three important levels of cultural analysis in organizations are: observable culture, shared values, and
common assumptions. These levels may be envisioned as layers. The deeper one gets, the more
difficult it is to discover the culture.
The first level concerns observable culture, or the way we do things around here.” These are the
methods the group has developed and teaches to new members. The observable culture includes the
unique stories, ceremonies, and corporate rituals that make up the history of a successful work group.
The second level of analysis recognizes that shared values can play a critical part in linking people
together and can provide a powerful motivational mechanism for members of the culture. Many
consultants suggest that organizations should develop a “dominant and coherent set of shared values.”
The term shared in cultural analysis implies that the group is a whole. Every member may not agree
with the shared values, but they have all been exposed to them and have often been told they are
important.
At Hewlett-Packard, for example, “quality” is part of everyone’s vocabulary/ language. The firm was
founded on the belief that everyone could make a creative contribution to developing quality products.
At the deepest level of cultural analysis are common assumptions, or the taken-for-granted truths that
collections of corporate members share as a result of their joint experience. It is often extremely difficult to
isolate these patterns, but doing so helps explain why culture invades every aspect of organizational life.

6.2 Characteristics of Organizational Culture

A good organizational structure has the following Characteristics.

1. Individual Autonomy: the degree of responsibility, freedom and opportunities of exercising
initiative that the individual have in the organization.
2. Structure : the degree to w/c the organization creates clear objectives, communication,
performance expectations.

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 3. Management support: : the degree to w/c managers provide clear communication, assistance,
warmth and support to subordinates.
4. Identity: the degree to w/c members identify in with organization as a whole rather than with
their particular work group or field of professional expertise.
5. Performance -reward system: the degree to w/c reward system in the organization like increase
in salary, promotion, transfer etc are based on employee performance rather than seniority,
nepotism or any sort of artificial segregation.

6. Conflict Tolerance: the degree of conflict present in relationships between colleagues and work
groups as well as the degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflict and criticisms
openly

7. Risk tolerance: The degree to w/c employees are encouraged to be innovative, aggressive and risk
taking.
8. Communication patterns: the degree to w/c org. communications are restricted to the formal
hierarchy of authority.
9. Outcome orientation: the degree to w/c management focuses on outcomes or results rather than
the techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.
10. People orientation: the degree to w/c the management decisions take in to consideration the
impacts of outcomes on people in the orgs.

When we appraise the organization with the above characteristics we will get the exact organizational
Culture.

6.3 Components of Culture

1. Values; are the beliefs as what is best for the organization that determine what is good or bad right
or wrong. Values may be expressed implicitly or explicitly in the following ways.
- performance, competence, competitiveness, quality, customer service teamwork etc.

2. Norms: are the “ought's” or “should be” of a behavior. They are prescriptions for acceptable
behavior. They are set of beliefs, feelings and attitudes commonly shared by groups.

Therefore, organizational norms are the basis for predicting and controlling the behaviors of members.

3. artifacts: are visible and tangible aspects of an organization that people can hear, see, or feel which
may include Environments, dressing styles, the manner in w/c people can address each other.

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4. Leadership styles: describes the approach the managers use to deal with employees in the
organization. The leader is central to the organizational culture and the culture of the
organization is likely to reflect the personality of the leader.

6.4 Dimensions of Culture

A common misconception is that organizations have similar cultures w/c means that individuals with
d/t backgrounds or d/t levels in the organization will tend to describe the organization culture in
similar fashion. But in reality it may not tend to happen and as a result there may be a dominant
and sub culture strong or weak culture.

The following are the different cultural dimensions.

1.Dominant vs Subculture: dominant culture is the set of core values shared by a majority of
organizational members. It is a macro level that helps to guide the day to day behavior of employees.
Where as sub-culture is a set of values shared by small minority organizational members. This arises
as a result of problems and experiences that are shared by members of the department or unit of the
orgsn. In the sub-culture the values of dominant culture are retained but modified to reflect individuals
unit’s distinct situation. E.g. marketing dept may have its own sub-culture, purchasing dept similarly.

2. Strong Culture vs. Weak culture: org culture may be strong or weak.
• Strong Cultures have the following features;
a. Have strong values and strong leadership
b. Widely shared high degree of organizational members with core values.
c. Intensely held; organizational members have high degree of commitment of core
values.

. Strong culture with high sharedness and intensity reduces labor turnover and increases positive
employee’s attitude.

On the other hand it leads to high “group think”

3. Mechanistic Vs. organic Cultures: in the cultures of mechanistic the values of bureaucracy and
feudalism are exhibited. People restrict their careers to their own specializations only and
organizational work is concerned as a system of narrow specialization. It follows a flow of
traditional authority from top to bottom.

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 Communication channels are well defined and prescribed.

• On the other hand organic culture just contrast of mechanistic culture. where there is no
prescribed communication channels, departmental boundaries, strict hierarchies of
authority and formal rules and regulations. More stress is on flexibility , consultation,
change and innovation.

4. Authoritarian vs Participative culture:

in authoritarian culture power is centralized and subordinates are supposed to obey orders strictly.

Discipline is stressed and disobedience is severely punished. This culture is based on the assumption
that leader knows what is good for the organization.

The participative culture is on based on the assumption that when all the people working in the
organization participate in decision making.
Group problem solving, synergy the “we approach”.

6. National Culture vs. Organizational culture

7. Organizational culture is always influenced by national culture irrespective of the origin
company.
8. In other words if there is a clash between national and organizational cultures, the national ??
culture prevails.
9. For example any company operating in India whether it is Indian origin or foreign, observes
the local culture.
10. They declare the same holidays, celebrate the same festivals and organize the same functions
and cultural activities. As reflected by Indian ethnos.
11. How is culture starts founders?? Kroc. Kroc McDonalds co.(Quality service and cleanness).
TATA co. powerful and successful cultures(honesty and fair dealing). Philosophies, principles
and values are still alive in their business .

6.5 Change in organizations

“Change” is the watchword of the day for many, if not most, organizations. Some of this change may be
described as radical change, or frame-breaking change. Change: You are perhaps aware of the axiom that the
only certainty in the world is that there will be change.
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 In this process of change, the Darwinian principles of adaptation and natural selection are as true for the
corporate world as they are for the animate. `Survival of the fittest' is the unwritten but the radical rule of this
game

This is change that results in a major overhaul of the organization or its component systems. In today’s business
environments, such radical changes are often initiated by a critical event, such as a new CEO, a new ownership
brought about by merger or takeover, or a dramatic failure in operating results.

Another common form of organizational change is incremental change, or frame-bending change. This type of
change, being part of an organization’s natural evolution, is frequent and less traumatic. Typical changes of this
type include the introduction of new products, new technologies, and new systems and processes.

Although the nature of the organization remains relatively the same, incremental change builds on the existing
ways of operating to enhance or extend them in new directions. The capability of improving continuously
through incremental change is an important asset in today’s demanding environments.

The success of both radical and incremental change in organizations depends in part on change agents
who lead and support the change processes.
These are individuals and groups who take responsibility for changing the existing behavior patterns
of another person or social system. Although change agents sometimes are hired as consultants from
outside the organization, any manager or leader in today’s dynamic times is expected to act in a change
agent capacity. Indeed, this responsibility is increasingly defined even more specifically as essential to
the leadership role. Simply put, being an effective change agent means being a great “change leader.
6.5.1 Types of Changes
Unplanned changes occur spontaneously or randomly. They may be disruptive, such as a wildcat
strike that ends in a plant closure, or beneficial, such as an interpersonal conflict that results in a new
procedure designed to smooth the flow of work between two departments. When the forces of
unplanned change begin to appear, the appropriate goal is to act quickly to minimize any negative
consequences and maximize any possible benefits. In many cases, unplanned changes can be turned
into good advantage.
planned change is the result of specific efforts by a change agent. It is a direct response to someone’s
perception of a performance gap—a discrepancy between the desired and actual state of affairs.
Performance gaps may represent problems to be resolved or opportunities to be explored.
Most planned changes may be regarded as efforts intended to deal with performance gaps in ways that
benefit an organization and its members. The processes of continuous improvement require constant
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 vigilance to spot performance gaps— both problems and opportunities—and to take action to resolve
them.

Phases of Planned Change (Kurt Lewin Model)

Unfreezing : As a practical matter, change does not occur in a vacuum of no prior perspective. To the
extent the new is different from the old and the old-had value to the individuals, the old patterns of
perspective implies a questioning and doubting of existing assumptions and feelings. For most change
which is significant, the unfreezing requires a loosening of emotional as well as intellectual forces.
Unfreezing involves the following steps:
A) Recognizing the Driving Forces

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Recognizing major changes in the environment and problems within the organization is the first step
toward organizational change. In many organizations, however, the need for change may go unnoticed
until a major problem strikes.
B) Increasing the Driving Forces Once the need for change is identified, it has to be communicated
to people who are involved in the changing process. Because if members know why the change is
needed, they are more likely to adopt it.
The following strategies can be adopted to increase the - acceptance of a change.

– Express the need for change

People who will be affected by the change have to know the change is needed. If they do not, they will
hesitate to cooperate in the change process.
Communicate the potential benefit
People have a tendency to ask, "what's in it for me?" Unless they feel that the change will benefit them
or that failure to change will hurt them substantially, they are less likely to cooperate. If no benefits
can be identified, the costs of not changing must at least be understood.
• Protect the interest of concerned people
People fear change because it may cause them to lose their jobs, income or status. Assurances of job
security, income protection and maintenance of status can increase the acceptance of change.
• Get people involved in the process
Participation can help people accept change. Some individuals have a positive outlook on change and
when they participate, the progress of change is facilitated.
• Communicate the progress of change
In order to minimize fear of the unknown, the content and progress of change must be communicated
to employees. It is often difficult to know all the potential consequences and influences of a given
change, but, by keeping employees informed of its progress, management can at least maintain a
climate of trust.
• Use a respected change agent
The credibility and power of the change agent can facilitate the process of change. The change agent
must be familiar with the technical and behavioral aspects of a given change and must be someone
with an influence on organizational functioning.
• Reinforce earlier changes

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When an organization undertakes a large scale change involving a series of continual modification, it
is important for people to see that earlier changes have been successful.

C) Managing the Resisting Forces

Most of the strategies designed to increase the driving forces are equally applicable for reducing
resisting forces to change.
People resist change because they perceive that it can be harmful to them; thus, it is essential that they
be made aware of its need and benefit.
Understanding the reason why people resist change can help you formulate a plan to reduce the
resistance

• Moving
In the moving or changing phase the individual is ready for new behavior and a change in perspective.
It is a time of trial and error learning, characterized by ambiguity and tentativeness.
The phase is typically one of careful guidance by an authority, of learning the pieces of a new pattern
of behavior before the whole can be conceived.
Moving or change involves changing the organizational components. Traditionally, organizational
change was thought to mean modifying only one subsystem of an organization.
For example if there was a change in technology, modifying a task was thought to be sufficient. In
recent years, however, more attention has been paid to larger-scale organizational changes involving
several organizational components. This approach is based on the view that an organization is
composed of four major components-task, structure, technology and people and that a change in any

one of them requires changing the others .

This phase involves the establishment of a new perspective compatible with and leading to the new
desirable behavior.
In effect, the new part of one's total perspective is now established and integrated so that it fits the
whole. This makes it possible for the new behavior to be accomplished as a matter of course. This is
the period in which the individual or group begins to enjoy the rewards for the new behavior, either
extrinsically in the form of social approval, monetary reward and the like or intrinsically in the form of
ego satisfaction, sense of mastery and self-fulfillment.
In order to continuously reinforce the newly acquired behavior, the organization needs to maintain the
organizational fit among various components that are supportive of such behavior. Without such
organizational compatibility, the organization will encounter instability.
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 • 4. Feedback

Management of change requires feedback and follow-up actions that change program is progressing in
right direction without producing any dysfunctional effect.
It may be useful to note the difference between individual change and organizational change, although
the two are interwoven.
6.5.2 Individual and Organizational Change
• Individual change is behavioral-determined by individual characteristics of members
such as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, needs, expectations etc.
It is possible to bring about a total change in an organization by changing behaviors of individual
members through participative-educative strategy.
The degree of difficulty involved in the change and the time taken to change will be primarily
dependent upon what exactly is your target of change.
If your target of change is a person's knowledge, it would not be a very difficult and time-consuming
endeavor.
Changing attitudes is usually considered more difficult and time taking when compared to changing
knowledge.
Changing behavior is a still more time-taking and difficult task. We often assume that having enough
knowledge and a positive attitude towards something will naturally result in changing behavior or
modification towards that direction, but it does not necessarily happen.
Revolutional and Evolutional Changes
Look at the following exhibit on the stages of organization's change and development. You will find
that in each stage there are some critical concerns and key issues which must be addressed to and
satisfactorily solved. The exhibit also shows the consequences if the concerns are not met with
satisfaction.
In order to meet the critical concerns of each stage, organizations go through some rapid, visible,
shake-ups of their structure, policies, procedures, techniques, personnel, etc.
These changes in calmer moments of steady growth may be viewed as revolutionary changes.
You will be able to appreciate the difference between the two degrees of change through yet another
model of organization’s growth given below.
It postulates that as an organization grows from young to mature stage, tiny sized to giant size, it
passes through five phases of evolution each of which ends with a period of crisis and revolution.

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Evolutionary periods are characterized by the dominant management styles used to achieve growth,
while revolutionary periods are characterized by the dominant problems that must be solved before
growth continues.

The first phase of a newly-born organization is characterized by:

Creating a viable product in a promising market.

The founders, who are usually technically brilliant and entrepreneurially oriented, manage their
endeavors themselves in an ad hoc manner with little respect to any formal system of communication
and control.
Their physical and mental energies are entirely absorbed in making and selling.
But as the organization starts growing from its tiny embryonic stage, many managerial problems crop
up, forcing the founders to wonder as to who is going to lead the organization out of confusion.

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By the end of the first phase, the crisis of leadership has emerged. The solution usually lies in locating

and installing a strong business manager who is acceptable to the founders and who can pull the
;
organization together.

When leadership crisis forces the founders to relinquish some of their power to a professional
manager, organizational growth is achieved by direction through systematization of operating
procedures.

The manager is usually given a free hand and zealously accepts most of the responsibility for initiating
direction. But the lower level supervisors are treated merely as functional specialists devoid of any
decision-making authority. In course of growth for the organization, the lower level managers demand
more autonomy in decision-making and the stage is set for the crisis of autonomy to come to the fore.
The second phase of the organization's growth is capped by this turmoil for autonomy.
The crisis of autonomy is resolved through the delegation of authority which helps in gaining
expansion through heightened motivation at lower ranges. But one serious problem that eventually
evolves is the loss of top management control over highly diversified field of operations.
The crisis of control emerges at the conclusion of phase three where field managers run their own
shows without aligning plans, money, technology, or manpower with the rest of the organization. In
order to achieve more efficient allocation of organization's limited resources, an elaborate network of
coordinating mechanisms is usually introduced at phase IV of 'the organization's growth.
The organization becomes typically much more formalized; rules, regulations and rigidities increase
almost exponentially. For some time, the new systems prove useful for achieving growth through
coordinated efforts. But soon procedure takes precedence over problem-solving, the chronic conflict
between line and staff becomes acute. The organization becomes too large and complex to be managed
through formal programms and rigid systems. Thus begins the crisis of reshape.

The fifth phase of an organization's growth is characterized by strong inter-personal collaboration in

order to overcome the crisis of red tape and the widespread conflicts between several subsystems.
Developing the team becomes the theme, social contra and self-discipline take over from formal
control, more flexible and behavioral approaches are adopted to attack the problems of managing a
large organization.
What crisis do you anticipate at this phase of organization's growth? Nobody seems to know the exact
nature of this future shock, as no organization has traversed so far. Some authors feels that some
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problems may emerge centering around the psychological saturation of employees who grow
emotionally and physically exhausted by the intensity of teamwork and the heavy pressure for
innovative solution.

6.5.3 Reasons for which organizations change

Some major antecedent conditions which serve as stimuli for changes to be undertaken in an
organization are discussed as bellow.

1. Growth and Decay

Organization’s growth presents many problems and opportunities for change. Decay too poses change
problems. It leads to defensive, restorative changes aimed at survival and the essential resumption of
growth.
When growth occurs through internal vigor of product lines, services or market penetration, change is
gradual.
Change is more extensive when growth occurs from mergers, acquisitions or exceptionally rapid
success of organizational activities.
Mergers and acquisitions are undertaken for many reasons such as consolidating or increasing capital,
pooling management talent using facilities more efficiently, increasing production and marketing
capacity and achieving vertical integration.

2. New Personnel
Some change is inevitable because of internal factors such as death, retirement, transfer, promotion,
discharge, or resignation and constantly changing elements in the external environment.
One of the most frequent reasons for major changes in company structure is a change of executives at
the top. They usually begin by examining the structure below them to see if it corresponds to their
ideas of what will be needed to do their job effectively. Upon taking over a position at the top, a new
manager may make sweeping changes.

3. Change Agents
Change Agent is the technical term for an organizational member whose role involves the strategies
and procedures for bringing about change. Any individual can be a change agent at one time or
another, but many people have positions, tasks, or formal roles in which their main assignments
involve dealing with change.

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A change agent's formal role is primarily to plan and initiate changes rather than to implement them.
Change agents serve as catalysts, interpreters, and synthesists. They often work quietly behind the
scenes to promote change.
An interesting kind of change agent is often referred to as "The Young Turk". Young Turks are new,
usually young employees, eager and ambitious, full of ideas for improvement, and willing to be a bit
pushy, and obnoxious, or at least persistent, in trying their ideas.
Organizations sensing the need for change often deliberately appoint Young Turks to challenge the
status quo. They are not always popular with colleagues or even their bosses.
The best of the Young Turks are those who have real talent combined with a measure of tact and
patience.

4. Declining Effectiveness

Decline in effectiveness is one of the reasons for change for organizations.

Organizations have a number of ways of "taking their pulse" by looking at indicators from their own
information systems.
A business firm monitors data on sales, absenteeism, turnover, scrap rates, manufacturing costs and
numerous ratios of financial measures.
Some firms also conduct regular opinion surveys of their work force.
Others have systematic methods of obtaining feedback from customers.
In response to the information obtained through the above methods, the organizations make the
required changes in organization to maintain the desired level of efficiency.

5. Change in Corporate Strategy

An organization may undertake comprehensive changes even when no indicators would suggest
immediate problems in its performance.
Forecasts of long run trend may prompt a decision to enter new markets, to pursue a strategy of
growth, to become less dependent on government, to switch from a centralized to a decentralized
structure, or to adopt new technologies.
All these strategic decisions have implications for changing the behavior of people in their
organization.

6. Crises

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 Not infrequently, the occasion for organizational change is an unforeseen crisis which makes
continuation of the status quo unthinkable.
The sudden death of a Chief Executive Officer, the resignation of key members of a top management
team, a strike by a critically important group of specialized workers, loss of major client or suppliers
on whom the company has been dependent, a drastic cutback in budget, even spontaneous civil
disturbances directed against an organization force a reorientation of the corporate posture and initiate
a total revamping of policy, practice and behavior.

7.Personal Goals
Leaders, interest groups and coalitions have their own goals: to see the company become more
aggressive, to shape the organization around some distinctive theme, to cast a particular corporate
image, to further some ideology or philosophy.
Seldom are these goals stated in precisely those forms, at least for the record or for public
consumption. More frequently, they are clothed in rationalizations about their presumed effect on
profit and service.

6.5.4 Resistance to Change

In organizations, resistance to change is any attitude or behavior that indicates unwillingness to make
or support a desired change. Change agents often view any such resistance as something that must be
“overcome” in order for change to be successful. It is helpful to view resistance to change as feedback
that the change agent can use to facilitate gaining change objectives. The essence of this constructive
approach to resistance is to recognize that when people resist change, they are defending something
important and that appears threatened by the change attempt. Resistance to change may be:

1. Resistance to the Change Itself Sometimes a change agent experiences

resistance to the change itself. People may reject a change because they believe it
is not worth their time, effort, or attention. To minimize resistance in such cases,
the change agent should make sure that everyone who may be affected by a
change knows specifically how it satisfies the following criteria.
a. Benefit—The change should have a clear relative advantage for the people being asked
to change; it should be perceived as “a better way.”
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 b. Compatibility—The change should be as compatible as possible with the existing values and
experiences of the people being asked to change.

c. Complexity—The change should be no more complex than necessary; it must be as easy as possible
for people to understand and use.

d. Trialability—The change should be something that people can try on a step by- step basis and make
adjustments as things progress.

2. Resistance to the Change Strategy

Change agents must also be prepared to deal with resistance to the change strategy. Someone who
attempts to bring about change via force–coercion, for example, may create resistance among
individuals who resent management by “command” or the use of threatened punishment.
People may resist a rational persuasion strategy in which the data are suspect or the expertise of
advocates is not clear. They may resist a shared power strategy that appears manipulative and
insincere.

2. Resistance to the Change Agent Resistance to the change agent is directed at the person implementing
the change and often involves personality and other differences. Change agents who are isolated and
aloof from other persons in the change situation, who appear self-serving, or who have a high emotional

involvement in the changes are especially prone to such problems .

6.5.5 Strategies to Overcome Change Resistance

Change is such a constant in today’s organizations that to mention it is like telling an old and not‐very
welcome joke at a dinner party. Nevertheless, sometimes in a change effort, the organization
makes you the story‐teller.
How then can you bring out that old saw in fresh and effective ways? How can you help your
workplace accept an impending and unavoidable change? Here are some proven strategies that can
make you more successful at overcoming resistance to change.

1. Address Personal Concerns First

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Most organizations justify the need for change by telling their employees—the ultimate users of the
change—all of the wonderful things the change will mean for the organization. This is a poor approach
to getting audience buy‐in. When faced with a change, people react first with their own concerns:
“What’s in it for me?”

2. Link the Change to Other Issues People Care About

The perceived need for a change can be increased by linking it to other issues that people already care
about (CRED, 2009). By showing how a change is connected to issues of health, job security,
• and other things that are already in the front of people’s minds, you can make a change
“more sticky” and less likely to be replaced as new demands for their attention show up.

3. Tap into People’s Desire to Avoid Loss

People are more sensitive to loss than to gain. This “negativity bias” is a longstanding survival trait
that has kept humans alive throughout their development as a species. Historically, it was always more
important to avoid stepping on a snake than to find a soft place to sleep.
Therefore, rather than just telling people what they stand to gain from a change, you may have a
greater impact by telling them what they stand to lose if they don’t accept the change.

4. Tailor Information to People’s Expectations

People generally hold firm views of how the world works. These often unconscious and invisible
“mental models” govern much of people’s thinking including how they perceive a potential change
(Carey, S., 1986; Morgan, M., Fischhoff, B., Bostrom, A., et al., 2002). For example, they may tend to
see a change as something good about to happen (a promotion model) and willingly accept it, or they
may see a change as something bad about to happen (a prevention model) and deal with it as an “ought
to do” while focusing their energy on avoiding loss (Cesario, Grant, and Higgins, 2004; Higgins, 1997,
2000). You can provide all the logical arguments in the world in support of your change, but if your
arguments don’t match the basic assumptions and rules to the way the person sees the world, you are
unlikely to get very far. To make matters worse, people hold fast to their current beliefs, desires, or
feelings; this “confirmation bias” means that if the change you are promoting doesn’t appeal to their
current beliefs, desires, or feelings, you may have a hard time making any headway.

5. Group Your Audience Homogeneously

Getting the message over to a group of people who share basic opinions with regard to the change is
easier than getting it over to a group of people with diverse opinions. Whenever possible, divide your
audience into homogeneous groups insofar as their view of the change goes.
• Being smart about how you present your argument and evidence for change.
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6. Take Advantage of People’s Bias—Buy Now, Pay Later!
People tend to see things that are happening now as more urgent than those that will happen in the
future (Weber, 2006). This tendency is often referred to as “discounting the future.” For instance, when
presented with the option of getting $250 now or $366 in a year (a 46% rate of interest), the average
person will choose the $250 now (Hardesty and Weber, 2009).
This suggests that when trying to persuade others that a change is necessary, even though the future
threat and loss may be great, it is desirable to emphasize that inaction now poses its own threat and
loss.

7. Make the Change Local and Concrete

Often organizational changes are responses to some sort of threat. If that threat is seen as more
relevant to distant outsiders than to the people in the organization, or if the threat is presented in the
abstract, then the targeted people will have little motivation to change (Leiserowitz, 2007).
• However, if you can demonstrate in concrete terms that the threat is local and will have a
real impact on the people you are trying to get to accept the change, you may find it
easier to persuade them to buy‐in.

8. Appeal to the Whole Brain

Often, when making a case for a change, change agents use lots of numbers, charts, tables, etc. Such
facts and figures appeal especially to one side of the brain. But the human brain has two sides, and
although they work together, each has a different way of processing information. The left side is
analytical and controls the processing of quantitative information. The right side is experiential and
controls the processing of emotional information.
Even for audiences where one side may dominate (e.g., engineers who favor facts and figures), the
most effective communication targets both sides of the brain (Chaiken and Trope, 1999; Epstein, 1994;
Marx, et.
Chapter Questions
1.Briefly explain the different phases of planed change and provide examples for eac h phase
2.briefly explain the difference between planed and unpland changes
3. Critically explain the reasons why people change resistance and is it always bad to resist change/
4. why organizations must quickly respond when the external or unplaned change occurs
5. Change is the order of the day, a constatnt thing to happen. Explain the statement and give examples

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 CHAPTER SEVEN

ORGANIZATIONAL POWER AND POLITICS

CHAPTER’S OBJECTIVES

After the end of this session, the students will able:

 Define power and politics

 Distinguish leadership with power
 Identify sources and bases of power in the organization

 Exolain the different source of power

 Analyze the different tactics to acquire political power

7.1 Definition of power

Power is the ability to exert influence on other people. Influencing refers what people do at organizations.
In any organization managers exert influence, but they are not the only person that exerts influence on
others in the organization. Employees also exert influence on their manager and other workers. (Stoner,
freeman and Gilbert, 1995:344)

Gerald Greenberg and Robert A. Baron (2003:438) also defined power as it is the potential to successfully
influence people to change their behavior or attitude. In any organization, all people with in do not posses
uniform or equal power to influence on others. Some may have a greater capacity to influence the people

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around them than others. It depends on his/her power in the organization as individual or by virtue of his
position

• Power: In OB, is defined as the ability to get someone to do something you want done or the
ability to make things happen in the way you want them to.

• Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in
accordance with A’s wishes. This definition implies that there is a potential for power if
someone is dependent on another.

• The essence of power is control over the behavior of others. Power is the force you use to make
things happen in an intended way, whereas influence is what you have when you exercise
power, and it is expressed by others’ behavioral response to your exercise of power.

• .

7.2 Source of Power

Managers derive power from both organizational and individual sources. These sources are called
position power and personal power, respectively

7.2.1 Position Power

Three bases of power are available to a manager solely as a result of his or her position in the
organization: reward, coercive, and legitimate power. ( bases of power)

Reward power is the extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other
people. Examples of such rewards include money, promotions, compliments, or enriched jobs.

Although all managers have some access to rewards, success in accessing and utilizing rewards to
achieve influence varies according to the skills of the manager.

Power can also be founded on punishment instead of reward. For example, a manager may threaten to
withhold a pay raise, or to transfer, demote, or even recommend the firing of a subordinate who does
not act as desired.

Such coercive power is the extent to which a manager can deny desired rewards or administer
punishments to control other people. The availability of coercive power also varies from one

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organization and manager to another. The presence of unions and organizational policies on employee
treatment can weaken this power base considerably.

The third base of “position” power is legitimate/lawful power, or formal authority.

It stems from the extent to which a manager can use subordinates’ internalized values or beliefs that
the “boss” has a “right of command” to control their behavior.

For example, the boss may have the formal authority to approve or deny such employee requests as
job transfers, equipment purchases, personal time off, or overtime work.

Legitimate power represents a special kind of power a manager has because subordinates believe it is
legitimate for a person occupying the managerial position to have the right to command. If this
legitimacy is lost, authority will not be accepted by subordinates.

One of the most important aspects of legitimacy is the access to and control of information. Indeed,
some observers believe that information power should be listed as a separate source of power. In most
organizations, the “right” to know and use information is restricted and confined by a series of rules
and regulations.

7.2.2 Personal Power

Personal power resides in the individual and is independent of that individual’s position.

Personal power is important in many well-managed firms. Three bases of personal power are
expertise, rational persuasion, and reference (bases of personal Power).

Expert power is the ability to control another person’s behavior through the possession of
acknowledge, experience, or judgment that the other person does not have but needs.

A subordinate obeys a supervisor possessing expert power because the boss ordinarily knows more
about what is to be done or how it is to be done than does the subordinate.

• Expert power is relative, not absolute.

• Rational persuasion is the ability to control another’s behavior because through the
individual’s efforts, the person accepts the desirability of an offered goal and a reasonable way
of achieving it. Much of what a supervisor does day today involves rational persuasion up,
down, and across the organization. Rational persuasion involves both explaining the
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 desirability of expected outcomes and showing how specific actions will achieve these
outcomes.

• Referent power is the ability to control another’s behavior because the person wants to
identify with the power source. In this case, a subordinate obeys the boss because he or she
wants to behave, perceive, or believe as the boss does. This obedience may occur, for example,
because the subordinate likes the boss personally( Role- model e.g. My role- models OM
teacher) and therefore tries to do things the way the boss wants them done. In a sense, the
subordinate attempts to avoid doing anything that would interfere with the pleasing boss–
subordinate relationship.

7.3 Tactics To Gain power

• Bargaining: is the use of negotiation through the exchange of benefit or favor. i.e. collective
bargaining b/n labor and management

• Friendliness: a person can gain power over another person by flattery(sweet talk) , creation of
goodwill, acting humble and being friendly.

• Coalition: when two or more persons or groups combine their efforts and energy for a
common vested interest/goal.

• Co-optation : A group gives some of its important positions members of the other groups or
include them in its policy- making committee. Hence, criticisms and threats from other groups
can be blunted/ dull.

• Reason: a person can use reasoning to gain power. Reasoning consists of use of facts and data
to make logical or rational presentation of ideas. To make decisions.

• 6. Assertiveness: the use of direct and forceful approaches, pointing the rule needs
compliance. “Might is right”…if love can’t ruled out…

• 7. Higher Authority: some managers gain the support of higher levels i.e. strong affiliation
with.

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• 8. Sanctions: consist of traditional reward and punishment method. Eg. Gain through
promising or preventing pay raise, demoting or promoting.

• Behavior of powerful leaders and managers

• Delegate decision authority

• See people’s talents as a resource- second line mgmt

• Can change people’s working conditions

• Get resources and information for work group

• Take risks, entrepreneurs.

• Press for innovations

• Share power widely

• Help develop people, reach their aspirations.

• Behavior of powerless leaders and managers

• Supervise closely

• Do not delegate decision authority

• Often distrust subordinates

• See people’s talents as a threat belittling them, fear

• Stick to the rules

• Do not take risks risk averse

• Strongly focus on the work

• Protect his or her territory

Discussion Point share your experience or observation of the above powerful and powerless
leaders in your organizations?

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 7.4 Organizational politics

Any study of power and influence inevitably leads to the subject of “politics.” For many, this word
may conjure up thoughts of illicit deals, favors, and special personal relationships.

Perhaps this image of shrewd, often dishonest, practices of obtaining one’s way is reinforced by
Machiavelli’s classic fifteenth-century work.

It is important, however, to adopt a perspective that allows politics in organizations to function in a

much broader capacity.

• The two traditions of organizational politics

There are two quite different traditions in the analysis of organizational politics.

One tradition builds on Machiavelli’s philosophy and defines politics in terms of self-interest and the
use of non sanctioned means.

In this tradition, organizational politics may be formally defined as the management of influence to
obtain ends not sanctioned by the organization or to obtain sanctioned ends through non-sanctioned
influence means.

• The two different traditions of organizational politics are reflected in the ways executives
describe their effects on managers and their organizations.

In one survey, some percent of those interviewed indicated that organizational politics enhanced
the achievement of organizational goals and survival. Yet, some 44 percent suggested that it
distracted individuals from organizational goals.

In this same survey, 60 percent of respondents suggested that organizational politics was good for
career advancement; 39 percent reported that it led to a loss of power, position, and credibility.

Organizational politics is not automatically good or bad. It can serve a number of important functions,
including overcoming personnel inadequacies, coping with change, and substituting for formal
authority.

Even in the best managed firms, mismatches arise among managers who are learning, burned out,
lacking in needed training and skills, overqualified, or lacking the resources needed to accomplish
their assigned duties.
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Organizational politics provides a mechanism for circumventing these inadequacies and getting the job
done. Organizational politics can facilitate adaptation to changes in the environment and technology of
an organization.

Organizational politics can help identify such problems and move ambitious, problem-solving
managers into the breach. It is quicker than restructuring.

It allows the firm to meet unanticipated problems with people and resources quickly, before small
headaches become major problems. Finally, when a person’s formal authority breaks down or fails to
apply to a particular situation, political actions can be used to prevent a loss of influence.

Managers may use political behavior to maintain operations and to achieve task continuity in
circumstances where the failure of formal authority may otherwise cause problems.

7.4.1 Major Political power practices in Organization

Restricting access to information. Although people don't always engage in outright lying and
falsification, they may be inclined to control others' access to information in ways that enhance their
own power. For example, people may withhold information that makes others look bad, avoid contact
with others who are expected to press them for things they don't want to say, and so on.

Cultivating a favorable impression. People interested in being highly influential tend to go out of
their way to engage in some degree of image building – attempts to enhance the goodness of one's
impressions on others. This may take the form of associating oneself with others' successful
accomplishments and drawing attention to one's own successes.

Developing a base of support. To successfully influence others, it is often useful to gain the support
of others in the organization. With this in mind, managers may "lobby" for their ideas before they
officially present them at meetings, and "call in favors" they have done for others in the organization.

Blaming and attacking others. A commonly used political tactic involves finding a scapegoat— that
is, someone to put blame on for some failure or wrongdoing. Explaining that something is really
someone else's fault, making another "take the fall," gets the real culprit "off the hook" for it—until the
truth comes out, of course.

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Aligning with those more powerful. One of the most direct ways to gain power is by associating
oneself with those that are higher in power. This may be done by finding a more powerful person to
serve as one's mentor.

Tactics of gaining political power

1.Social Exchange – relies on the powerful norm of reciprocity in society, where two people in a
continuing relationship feel a strong obligation to repay their social “debts” to each other.

2. Alliances/cooalitions – two or more persons join in a longer-term power group to get benefits that
they usually desire.

• Form around people inside and outside the organization

• Those believed important to person’s position

3. Identification with Higher Authority – gaining special privileges by becoming identified with a
powerful figure in the organization.

4. Selective Service – giving service selectively to gain support, often by bending the rules.

5. Power and Status Symbols – acquiring power and status symbols that imply that you are an
important person in the firm.

6. Power Plays – aggressive tactic involving grabbing of power from others.

7. Networks – joining or forming interest groups that have a common objective. The group operates
on the basis of friendships and personal contacts.

8. Co-optation: get support by putting possible opponents on a task force or advisory board.

9. Reciprocity: It is good to help others. Accordingly, recognize those members of the organization
who will be more powerful in future. Help them so that they reciprocate the same when you need their
support.

Ethical Issues of political behavior in Organizations

• Utilitarian view: using power and political behavior to serve only one's self-interest is
unethical Political behavior that uses excessive organizational resources to reach a personal
goal is also unethical.
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 • Sense of justice strongly argues for fair treatment

• Giving preferential treatment to someone to build a sense of obligation is unethical.

• Using power and political behavior that violates another person's rights is unethical

A political tactic such as co-optation can violate others' rights

• Co-opted individual, unless he or she understands the goal of the political actor, has not
consented to such influence.

Key element of organization politics

 It is outside one’s specific job requirement

 It requires some attempt to use one’s power base.
 It involves efforts to influence the goal, criteria or used for decision making.
 It includes withholding of key information from decision maker, whistle blowing spreading
rumors, leaking confidential information about the organization for mutual benefit and lobbying on
behalf of or against a particular individual or decision alternatives.

Chapter Questions

1.differentiate the personal power source from positional power source

2. explain the different appropriate tactics of aquiring power

3. Organizational Politics is inevitable . explain the stamen with justification

4. politics is a doubled ege-sword briefly explain the implication

5. why Organizational politics is important in OB.

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