Organizational Behavior (Overview)

What Is Organizational Behavior?

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

An organization is a collection of people who work together to achieve a wide variety of goals, both goals of the various individuals in the organization and goals of the organization as a whole. Organizations exist to provide goods and services that people want. These goods and services are the products of the behaviors of workers.

Organizational behavior is the study of the many factors that have an impact on how individuals and groups respond to and act in organizations and how organizations manage their environments.

Although many people assume that understanding human behavior in organizations is intuitive, many

commonly held beliefs about behavior in organizations, such as the idea that a “happy worker is a productive worker,” are either entirely false or true only in specific situations. The study of organizational behavior provides a set of tools—concepts and theories—that help people understand, analyze, and describe what goes on in organizations and why. How do the characteristics of individuals, groups, work situations, and the organization itself affect how members feel about their organization?

The ability to use the tools of organizational behavior to understand behavior in organizations is one reason for studying this subject. A second reason is to learn how to apply these concepts, theories, and techniques to improve behavior in organizations so that individuals, groups, and organizations can achieve their goals. Managers are challenged to find new ways to motivate and coordinate employees to ensure that their goals are aligned with organizational goals.

The importance of studying organizational behavior (OB)

OB applies the knowledge gained about individuals, groups, and the effect of structure on behavior in order to make organizations work more effectively. It is concerned with the study of what people do in an organization and how that behavior affects the performance of the organization. There is increasing agreement as to the components of OB, but there is still considerable debate as to the relative importance of each: motivation, leader behavior and power, interpersonal communication, group structure and processes, learning, attitude development and perception, change processes, conflict, work design, and work stress. It is also important because it focus on the following areas.

• OB is a way of thinking.

• OB is multidisciplinary.

• There is a distinctly humanistic orientation with OB.

• The field of OB is performance oriented.

• The external environment is seen as having significant impact on OB.

Model of OB

Basic OB Model

Organization System Level

Group level

Individual level

Organizational behavior tools to understand and alter behavior can be examined at three levels of analysis—individual, group, and organizational.

These factors include personality and ability, attitudes and values, perception and attribution, learning, motivation, stress, and work/life linkages.

Individual differences can be divided into personality and ability differences. Understanding the nature, determinants, and consequences of individual differences is essential for managing organizational behavior. An appreciation of the nature of individual differences is necessary to understand why people behave in certain ways in an organization.

Group: group is defined as a collection of two or more people who interact together to achieve their goals. A team is a group in which members work together intensively to achieve a common goal. Work groups are the basic building blocks of an organization. Work groups use roles, rules, and norms to control their members’ behavior, and they use several socialization tactics to turn newcomers into effective group members. Groups contribute to organizational effectiveness when group goals are aligned with organizational goals.

Organization: Organizational structure and culture affect performance and how the changing global environment, technology, and ethics impact work attitudes and behavior.

Organizational structure and culture affect how people and groups behave in an organization. Together they provide a framework that shapes attitudes, behaviors, and performance. Organizations need to create a structure and culture that allow them to manage individuals and inter-group relations effectively.

Management Functions

Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling an organization’s human, financial, and material resources to increase its effectiveness.

In planning, managers establish their organization’s strategy, in other words, how best to allocate and use resources to achieve organizational goals. Much uncertainty and risk surround the decisions of managers during planning, and an understanding of organizational behavior can improve the quality of decision making, increase success, and lower risk.

In organizing, managers establish a structure of relationships that dictate how members of an organization work together to achieve organizational goals. Organizing involves grouping workers into departments, groups, and teams based on the tasks they perform. Organizational behavior offers guidelines on how to organize employees to make the best use of their capabilities and enhance communication and coordination.

When leading, managers encourage workers to do a good job and coordinate individual and groups so that all organizational members are working toward organizational goals. The study of different leadership methods and how to match leadership styles to the characteristics of the organization is a major concern of organizational behavior.

When controlling, managers monitor and evaluate individual, group, and organizational performance to see whether organizational goals are being achieved. Knowledge of organizational behavior allows managers to understand and accurately diagnose work situations and pinpoint the need for corrective action or strive to maintain and improve performance. Several processes at the individual or group levels (e.g., personality conflicts, poor job design) may cause poor performance.

Managers perform their four functions by assuming a number of roles in organizations. A role is a set of behaviors or tasks a person is expected to perform because of the position she or he holds in a group or organization.

Management Roles

The ten roles can be grouped as being primarily concerned with interpersonal relationships, the transfer of information, and decision making.

1. Interpersonal roles

• Figurehead—duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature

• Leadership—hire, train, motivate, and discipline employees

• Liaison—contact outsiders who provide the manager with information. These may be individuals or groups inside or outside the organization.

2. Informational Roles

• Monitor—collect information from organizations and institutions outside their own

• Disseminator—a conduit to transmit information to organizational members

• Spokesperson—represent the organization to outsiders

3. Decisional Roles

• Entrepreneur—managers initiate and oversee new projects that will improve their organization’s

Performance.

• Disturbance handlers—take corrective action in response to unforeseen problems

• Resource allocators—responsible for allocating human, physical, and monetary resources

• Negotiator role—discuss issues and bargain with other units to gain advantages for their own

Unit

Management Skills

Robert Katz has identified three essential management skills: technical, human, and conceptual.

1. Technical Skills

• The ability to apply specialized knowledge or expertise. All jobs require some specialized

expertise, and many people develop their technical skills on the job.

2. Human Skills

• The ability to work with, understand, and motivate other people, both individually and in

groups, describes human skills.

Many people are technically proficient but interpersonally incompetent

3. Conceptual Skills

1. The mental ability to analyze and diagnose complex situations

2. Decision making, for example, requires managers to spot problems, identify alternatives

that can correct them, evaluate those alternatives, and select the best one.

Personality:

Personality is the pattern of relatively enduring ways in which a person feels, thinks, and behaves. Personality is an important factor in accounting fro why workers act the way they do in organizations and why they have favorable attitudes toward their jobs and organizations. Personality has been shown to influence career choice, job satisfaction, stress, leadership, and some aspects of job performance.

Personality is partially determined by nature, or biological heritage. The genes that you inherited from your parents influence how your personality has been unfolding. Although specific genes for personality have not yet been identified, psychologists have studied identical twins in an attempt to discover the extent to which personality is inherited.

Personality develops over time, responding to the experiences people have as children and as adults. Factors such as the strictness or permissiveness of a child’s parents, the number of other children in the family, the extent to which parents and teachers demand a lot from a child, success or lack of success at making friends or getting and keeping a job, and even the culture in which a person is raised and lives as an adult are shapers of personality.

Personality is an important individual difference that managers need to take into account in order  to understand why people feel, think, and act as they do in organizations.

There are two types of debates that whether personality or the work situation itself is a better predictor of feelings, thoughts, and behavior at work and in life in general.

The Person side of the debate: Psychology suggest that personality is useful for explaining and predicting how workers generally feel, think, and behave on the job. Personality may not be much help in predicting who will participate in class on any given day, but it may predict who will participate in class over the semester. Similarly, personality is not a good predictor of which worker will volunteer to stay late on any given day or who will do the best job at satisfying a particular disgruntled customer.

The situation side of the debate: Some researchers maintain that strong situational constraints and pressures in organizations force people to behave in a certain way. Here is an extreme example supporting the situation side of the debate. A worker on an assembly line manufacturing bicycles must put handlebars on each bicycle that passes by. A bike passes by every 75 seconds, and the worker has to be sure that the handlebars are properly attached to each bicycle within that time frame. So, regardless of his/her personality worker has to perform a specific task.

It shows that where situational pressures on workers behavior are strong, personality may not be a good predictor of on-the-job behavior. When situational pressures are weak and worker have more choice about how to perform a job, personality plays a more important role, and what a person can put into his or her job performance will sometimes depend on the kind of person he or she is.

Ability

“Mental and physical capabilities to perform various tasks”

Intellectual Abilities: The capacity to do mental activities

• Numerical ability.(ability to solve arithmetic problems and deals with numbers.)

• Verbal ability. (Ability to understand and use written and spoken language i.e vocabulary, fluency)

• Reasoning ability.(Ability to come up with solution for problems)

• Deductive ability. (Ability to reach appropriate conclusion from observations)

• Spatial ability. (Ability to imagine how an object would appear if its position in space were altered.

• Memory ability. (Ability to recall the things)

Physical Ability:

“The capacity to do tasks demanding stamina, strength and similar characteristics”

For some jobs, physical ability is important. Physical ability consists primarily of motor skill, the ability to manipulate objects in an environment physically, and physical skill, a person’s fitness and strength. According to Fleishman, there are 11 types of motor skills (e.g., reaction time, manual dexterity, speed of arm movement) and 9 types of physical skills (e.g., static strength, which includes the ability to lift weights and stamina).

Physical abilities are typically measured by using physical tasks, such as lifting weights, to determine an individual’s level of strength. In addition to ensuring that employees have the abilities to perform at high level, organizations should provide employees with the opportunity to use their abilities on the job.

For managers, the key issue regarding ability is to assure that workers have the abilities needed to perform

their jobs effectively. There are three fundamental ways to manage ability by matching it to the job: selection, placement, and training.

The Big Five Model of Personality

Personality is typically described in terms of traits. A trait is a specific component of a personality that describes the particular tendencies a person has to feel, think, and act in a certain way. Thus, an individual’s personality is a collection of traits, thought to be organized hierarchically. The Big Five model of personality places five general personality dimensions at the top of this hierarchy—extroversion, neuroticism, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience

1. Extroversion

Refers to the tendency to be sociable, friendly, and expressive. Extraversion, or positive affectivity, is one of the Big Five personality traits, and describes the predisposition of individuals to experience positive emotional states and feel good about themselves and the world. Extroverts are more sociable, affectionate, and friendly than introverts and experience higher levels of job satisfaction.

2. Emotional Stability

Refers to the tendency to experience positive emotional states. Another Big Five trait, neuroticism, or negative affectivity, refers to people’s dispositions to experience negative emotional states, feel distressed, and view the world around them negatively. They may play devil’s advocate in an organization, pointing out problems with a proposed course of action. Individuals high on neuroticism often experience negative moods, feel stressed, and have a negative orientation at work. They are more critical of their own performance, a

tendency that drives them to make improvements and excel in critical thinking and evaluation. In group decision making, these individuals exert a sobering influence by pointing out the negative aspects of a decision.

3. Agreeableness

Being courteous, forgiving, tolerant, trusting, and self-hearted. Agreeableness is a Big Five trait capturing the distinction between individuals who get along well with others and those who do not. Individuals high in agreeableness are caring, affectionate, and likable, whereas individuals low in this dimension are antagonistic, mistrustful, unsympathetic, and uncooperative. Agreeableness is likely to contribute to being a team player

and is helpful in fostering good working relationships.

4. Conscientiousness

Is exhibited by those who are described as dependable, organized, and responsible. The Big Five trait of conscientiousnessrefers to the extent to which an individual is careful, scrupulous, and persevering. Individuals high on this dimension are organized and self-disciplined, whereas

individuals low in conscientiousness may lack direction and self-discipline. Conscientiousness has been found to be a good predictor of performance in many jobs in a wide variety of organizations.

5. Openness to Experience

Reflects the extent to which an individual has broad interests and is willing to be a risk-taker. Openness to experience is a trait that refers to the extent to which an individual is original, is open to a wide variety of stimuli, has broad interests, and is willing to take risks, rather than being narrow-minded or cautious. For openness to experience to be translated into creative and innovative behavior in organizations, the organization must remove obstacles to innovation.

                          Big five personality dimensions

Conscientiousness	Caring, dependable
Emotional stability	Poised, secure
Openness to experience	Sensitive, flexible
Agreeableness	Courteous, empathic
Extroversion	Outgoing, talkative

Type A and Type B Personalities

Type A individuals have an intense desire to achieve, are extremely competitive, have a sense

of urgency, are impatient, and can be hostile. A Type A personality is “aggressively involved in a

chronic, incessant 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.’’ They are always moving, walking, and eating rapidly, are impatient with the rate at which most events take place, are doing do two or more things at once and cannot cope with leisure time. They are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success in terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire.

Type B individuals are more relaxed and easygoing. Type A individuals may get a lot accomplished in organizations, but they also are more easily frustrated, more involved in more conflicts, and more likely to develop coronary heart disease than Type B individuals. Type Bs never suffers from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience and feels 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.

1. Type A’s operate under moderate to high levels of stress.

• They subject themselves to continuous time pressure, are fast workers, quantity over quality,

work long hours, and are also rarely creative.

• Their behavior is easier to predict than that of Type Bs.

2. Are Type As or Type Bs more successful?

• Type Bs are the ones who appear to make it to the top.

• Great salespersons are usually Type As; senior executives are usually Type Bs.

Personality Traits

• Realize that some workers are more likely to be positive and enthusiastic and some more likely to complain because of personality differences.

• Provide more direction for workers with less initiative to solve problems and who tend to blame others or the situation for problems.

• Provide more encouragement and support to workers with low self-esteem who belittle themselves and question their abilities.

• Realize that Type A personalities can be difficult to get along with and have difficulty in teams.

• Communicate to subordinates who are overly concerned being liked that sometimes honest feedback and be constructive criticism are necessary.

Motivational Theories

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Clayton Alderfer’s existence-relatedness-growth (ERG) theory is also a need theory of work motivation. Alderfer reduces the number of needs from five to three and states that needs at more than one level can be motivators at any time. Like Maslow, Alderfer proposes a hierarchy of needs. Yet, he believes that when an individual has difficulty satisfying a higher-level need, motivation to satisfy lower-level needs increase

A three-level hierarchical need theory of motivation that allows for movement up and down the

hierarchy.

•Existence Needs

•Relatedness Needs

•Growth Needs

According to ERG theory, a higher-level need can be a motivator even if a lower-level need is not fully satisfied, and needs at more than one level can be motivators at any time. Alderfer agrees with Maslow that as lower-level needs are satisfied, a worker becomes motivate to satisfy higher-level needs. But Alderfer breaks with Maslow on the consequences of need frustration. Maslow say that once a lower-level need is satisfied it is no longer a source of motivation. Alderfer proposes that when an individual is motivated to satisfy a higher-level need but has difficulty doing so, the person’s motivation to satisfy lower-level needs will increase.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Need theory is actually a collection of theories that focus on workers’ needs as the sources of motivation.Need theories propose that workers seek to satisfy many of their needs at work, so their behavior at work is oriented toward need satisfaction. A need is a requirement for survival and well-being. Previous chapters have described two theories, Hertzberg’s motivator-hygiene theory and McClelland’s descriptions of the needs for achievement, affiliation, and power. Two other content theories will be discussed, the theories of Abraham Maslow and Clay Alderfer.

Maslow suggested that all people seek to satisfy the same five needs—physiological needs, safety

needs, need to belong, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs. Maslow proposed that the needs be arranged in a hierarchy of importance, with the most basic or compelling needs—physiological and safety needs—at the bottom. Basic needs must be satisfied before an individual seeks to satisfy higher needs in the hierarchy. Maslow argued that once a need is satisfied, it is no longer a source of motivation.

Maslow’s theory helps managers understand that workers’ needs differ and that motivation for one worker is not motivation for another. Managers must identify a worker’s needs and ensure satisfaction of these needs if desired behaviors are performed.

Organizations can help workers who are at different levels in Maslow’s hierarchy satisfy personal needs while also achieving organizational goals and a competitive advantage. Realizing that researchers wanted to feel proud of their work, the Unocal Corporation instituted Creativity Week to recognize scientists whose projects benefit the organization. While meeting the esteem needs of its scientists, Unocal also reinforces its goal of innovation.

1. Physiological needs: food, drink, shelter, sexual satisfaction, and other physical requirements.

2. Safety needs: security and protection from physical and emotional harm, as well as assurance

that physical needs will continue to be met.

3. Social needs: affection, belongingness, acceptance, and friendship.

4. Esteem needs: internal esteem factors such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement and

external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention.

5. Self-actualization needs: growth, achieving one's potential, and self-fulfillment; the drive to

become what one is capable of becoming.

In terms of motivation, Maslow argued that each level in the hierarchy must be substantially satisfied before the next is activated and that once a need is substantially satisfied it no longer motivates behavior. In other words, as each need is substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. In terms of the individual moves up the needs hierarchy. From the standpoint of motivation, Maslow's theory proposed that, although no need is ever fully satisfied, a substantially satisfied need will no longer motivate an individual. If you want to motivate someone, according to Maslow, you need to understand what level that person is on in the hierarchy and focus on satisfying needs at or above that level. Managers who accepted Maslow's hierarchy attempted to change their organizations and management practices so that employees' needs could be satisfied.

In addition, Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower levels. Physiological and safety needs were described as lower-order needs; social, esteem, and self-actualization were described as higher-order needs. The difference between the two levels was made on the premise that higher-order needs are satisfied internally while lower-order needs are predominantly satisfied externally. In fact, the natural conclusion from Maslow's classification is that, in times of economic prosperity, almost all permanently employed workers have their lower-order needs substantially met.

Expectancy Theory

Expectancy theory, developed by Victor Vroom, focuses on how workers make choices among alternative behaviors and levels of effort. With its emphasis on choices, expectancy theory focuses on workers’ perceptions and thoughts or cognitive processes. By describing how workers make choices, expectancy theory provides managers with valuable insights on how to get workers to perform desired behaviors and how to encourage workers to exert high levels of effort.

Expectancy theory makes two assumptions: (1) workers are motivated to receive positive outcomes and avoid negative outcomes and (2) workers are rational, careful processors of information. Expectancy theory identifies three factors that determine motivation: valence, instrumentality, and expectancy. The most comprehensive and widely accepted explanation of employee motivation to date is Victor Vroom's expectancy theory. Although the theory has its critics, most research evidence supports it.

Expectancy theory states that an individual tends to act in a certain way based on the expectation that the act will be followed by a given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual. It includes three variables or relationships

This explanation of motivation might sound complex, but it really isn't that difficult to visualize. It can be summed up in the questions: How hard do I have to work to achieve a certain level of performance, and can I actually achieve that level? What reward will performing at that level get me? How attractive is the reward to me, and does it help me achieve my goals? Whether you are motivated to put forth effort (that is, to work) at any given time depends on your particular goals and your perception of whether a certain level of performance is necessary to attain those goals. Let's look at the theory's features and go through an example of how it works.

First, what perceived outcomes does the job offer the employee? Outcomes (rewards) may be positive— things such as pay, security, companionship, trust, fringe benefits, a chance to use talents or skills, or congenial relationships. Or the employee may view the outcomes as negative—fatigue, boredom, frustration, anxiety, harsh supervision, or threat of dismissal. Keep in mind that reality isn't relevant here. The critical issue is what the individual perceives the outcomes to be, regardless of whether the perceptions are accurate.

Second, how attractive are the outcomes or rewards to employees? Are they valued positively,

negatively, or neutrally? This obviously is a personal and internal issue that depends on the individual's needs, attitudes, and personality. A person who finds a particular reward attractive—that is, values it positively—would rather get it than not get it. Others may find it negative and, therefore, prefer not getting it. Still others may be neutral about the outcome.

Third, what kind of behavior must the employee exhibit in order to achieve these rewards? The rewards aren't likely to have any effect on an individual employee's performance unless he or she knows, clearly and unambiguously, what must be done to achieve them. For example, what is "doing well" in terms of performance appraisal? What criteria will be used to judge the employee's performance?

Finally, how does the employee view his or her chances of doing what is asked? After an employee has considered his or her own skills and ability to control those variables that lead to success, what's the likelihood that he or she can successfully perform at the necessary level?

Hertzberg’s Motivation Theory

Frederick Hertzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory proposes that intrinsic factors are related to job

satisfaction and motivation, whereas extrinsic factors are associated with job dissatisfaction. Believing that an individual's relation to his or her work is a basic one and that his or her attitude toward work determines success or failure, Herzberg investigated the question "What do people want from theirjobs?" He asked people for detailed descriptions of situations in which they felt exceptionally good or bad about their jobs.

Herzberg concluded from his analysis of the findings that the replies people gave when they felt good about their jobs were significantly different from the replies they gave when they felt badly. Certain characteristics were consistently related to job satisfaction (factors on the left side of the exhibit) and others to job dissatisfaction (factors on the right side). Those factors associated with job satisfaction were intrinsic and included things such as achievement, recognition, and responsibility. When people felt good about their work, they tended to attribute these characteristics to themselves. On the other hand, when they were dissatisfied, they tended to cite extrinsic factors such as company policy and administration, supervision, interpersonal relationships, and working conditions.

In addition, Herzberg believed that the data suggested that the opposite of satisfaction was not

dissatisfaction, as traditionally had been believed. Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job would not necessarily make that job more satisfying (or motivating).

Herzberg proposed that his findings indicated the existence of a dual continuum: The opposite of

"satisfaction" is "no satisfaction," and the opposite of "dissatisfaction" is "no dissatisfaction."

According to Herzberg, the factors that led to job satisfaction were separate and distinct from those that led to job dissatisfaction. Therefore, managers who sought to eliminate factors that created job dissatisfaction could bring about workplace harmony but not necessarily motivation. Because they don't motivate employees, the extrinsic factors that create job dissatisfaction were called hygiene factors. When these factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied, but they will not be satisfied (or motivated) either. To motivate people on their jobs, Herzberg suggested emphasizing motivators, the intrinsic factors that increase job satisfaction.

Job Satisfaction

Job satisfaction is the collection of feelings and beliefs people have about their current jobs. In addition to attitudes about a job as a whole, people can have attitudes about various aspects of their jobs, such as the kind of work, coworkers, or pay.

Job satisfaction is an important work attitude in organizational behavior because it affects a wide range of behaviors and contributes to workers’ well-being. It is one of the most well researched work attitudes.

• It is an individual’s general attitude toward his/her job.

• A high level of job satisfaction equals positive attitudes toward the job and vice versa.

• Employee attitudes and job satisfaction are frequently used interchangeably.

• Often when people speak of “employee attitudes” they mean “employee job satisfaction.”

Determinants of Job Satisfaction

There are four factors that affect the level of job satisfaction a person experiences: 1) Personality: (personal/inherited) 2) Values (His attitude/convictions towards job) 3) The work situation (interesting/boring, behavior of customer/subordinates/supervisors, work surrounding (noise level, crowded, temperature), how organization treats (working hour, job security, pays & benefits). 4) Social influence  that a person belongs to the group, the family where child’s grows up.

There are several measures of job satisfaction, useful to researchers studying job satisfaction and to managers who wish to assess satisfaction levels. Most measures have workers respond to questions or statements about their jobs. The most widely used scales include the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire, the Faces Scale, and the Job Descriptive Index.

Effect of Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance

Managers’ interest in job satisfaction tends to center on its effect on employee performance. Much research has been done on the impact of job satisfaction on employee productivity, absenteeism, and turnover.

2. Satisfaction and productivity: Happy workers are not necessarily productive workers—the evidence suggests that productivity is likely to lead to satisfaction.

• At the organization level, there is renewed support for the original satisfaction-performance

relationship. It seems organizations with more satisfied workers as a whole are more productive organizations.

3. Satisfaction and absenteeism: We find a consistent negative relationship between satisfaction and absenteeism. The more satisfied you are, the less likely you are to miss work.

• It makes sense that dissatisfied employees are more likely to miss work, but other factors

have an impact on the relationship and reduce the correlation coefficient. For example, you

might be a satisfied worker, yet still take a “mental health day” to head for the beach now

and again.

4. Satisfaction and turnover: Satisfaction is also negatively related to turnover, but the correlation is stronger than what we found for absenteeism.

• Other factors such as labor market conditions, expectations about alternative job

opportunities, and length of tenure with the organization are important constraints on the

actual decision to leave one’s current job.

• Evidence indicates that an important moderator of the satisfaction-turnover relationship is

the employee’s level of performance.

PERCEPTION & FACTORS/COMPONENTS OF PERCEPTION:

Perception is the process by which people interpret the input from their senses to give meaning and order to the world around them. The three components of perception are the perceiver, the target, and the situation. Accurate perceptions are necessary to make good decisions and to motivate workers to perform at a high level, to be fair and equitable, and to be ethical.

Through perception people try to make sense of their environment and the objects,events, and other people in it.

The perceiver’s knowledge base is organized into schemas, abstract knowledge structures stored in memory that allow people to organize and interpret information about a given target of perception. Schemas tend to be resistant to change and can be functional or dysfunctional. A stereotype is a dysfunctional schema because stereotypes often lead perceivers to assume erroneously that targets have a whole range of characteristics simply because they possess one distinguishing characteristic (e.g., race, age, or gender). In addition to the perceiver’s schemas, the motivational state and mood also influence perception.

Characteristics of the target also influence perception. Ambiguous targets are subject to a lot of

interpretation by the perceiver; the more ambiguous the target, the more likely perceivers are to differ in their perceptions of it. The target’s social status also affects how the target is perceived. Through impression management, targets can actively try to manage the perceptions that others have of them.

The situation affects perception by providing the perceiver with additional information. One

particularly important aspect of the situation is the target’s salience—that is, the extent to which the target stands out in a group of people or things.

Biases and problems in person perception include primacy effects, contrast effects, halo effects,

similar-to-me effects, harshness, leniency, average tendencies, and knowledge-of-predictor bias/favoritism. Inaccurate perceptions resulting from these biases can lead to faulty decision making.

Characteristics of the perceiver	Characteristics of the Target	Characteristics of the Situation
Schemas: The perceiver’s Knowledge base	Ambiguity: A lack of clearness or definiteness that makes it difficult to determine what a person, place or thing is really like.	Additional information: Situational information that the perceiver uses to interpret the target.
Motivational State: The perceiver’s needs, values and desires at that time.	Social status: A person’s real or perceived positon in society or an organization	Salience: The extent to which a target stands out among a group of people or things.
Mood: The perceiver’s feelings at the time of perception.	Use of impression management: A person’s effort to control other’s perceptions of him/her.

The Rational/Classical Model of decision making

This model of decision making is a prescriptive model; it describes how people should make decisions This model rests on two assumptions: (1) People have access to all the information they need to make a decision, and (2) people make decisions by choosing the best possible solution to a problem or response to an opportunity. According to the classical model, decision maker should choose how to respond to problems and opportunities by engaging in these four steps:

1)      Listing all alternatives from which a choice will be selected: These alternatives represent different responses to the problem or the opportunity.

2)      Listing the consequences of each alternative: The consequences are what would occur if a given alternative was selected.

3)      Considering his or her own preferences for each alternative or set of consequences and then ranking the sets from most preferred to least preferred.

4)      Selecting the alternative that will result in the most preferred set of consequences.

According to this model, if members of an organization follow those four steps, they will make optimal decisions—the best decisions that can be made, given the decision maker’s preferences. This model of decision making is unrealistic and it has some assumptions.

• Problem clarity. The decision maker is assumed to have complete information regarding the

decision situation.

• Known options. It is assumed the decision maker is aware of all the possible consequences of

each alternative.

• Clear preferences. Criteria and alternatives can be ranked and weighted to reflect their

importance.

• Constant preferences. Specific decision criteria are constant and the weights assigned to them

are stable over time.

• No time or cost constraints. The rational decision maker can obtain full information about

criteria and alternatives because it is assumed that there are no time or cost constraints.

• Maximum payoff. The rational decision maker will choose the alternative that yields the highest

perceived value

The administrative/Intuitive model of decision making

The rational model is prescriptive; it indicates how decisions should be made. In contrast, this is descriptive; it explains how people actually make decisions in organizations.

This approach stressing that incomplete information, psychological and sociological processes, and the decision maker’s cognitive abilities affect decision making and that decision makers often choose satisfactory, not optimal, solutions.

It is an unconscious process created out of distilled experience. It operates in complement with rational analysis. Some consider it a form of extrasensory power or sixth sense. Some believe it is a personality trait that a limited number of people are born with.

Eight conditions when people are most likely to use intuitive decision making:

a. when a high level of uncertainty exists

b. when there is little precedent to draw on

c. when variables are less scientifically predictable

d. when “facts” are limited

e. when facts do not clearly point the way to go

f. when analytical data are of little use

g. when there are several plausible alternative solutions to choose from, with good

arguments for each

h. when time is limited, and there is pressure to come up with the right decision

Foundations of group behavior

Organizations are not just collections of individuals working alone; members are usually clustered into groups or teams. Groups can accomplish things that are difficult for individuals working alone. The use of groups poses special challenges for management. Thus, this focuses on the nature and functioning of work groups and teams, such as how work groups develop and how group membership affects individual behavior. Two basic attributes define a group: (1) group members interact with one another; and (2) group members perceive that they can accomplish certain goals in a group. A group is a set of two or more people who interact to achieve certain goals or meet certain needs. Although members share some goals, they differ on others. A group goal is one that all or most group members agree on as a common goal

Any predictions about a group’s performance must begin by recognizing that work groups are part of a larger organization and those factors such as the organization’s strategy, authority structure, selection procedures, and reward system can provide a favorable or unfavorable climate for the group to operate within. A number of structural factors show a relationship to performance. Among the more prominent are role perception, norms, status inequities, the size of the group, its demographic makeup, the group’s task, and cohesiveness.

Types of Work Groups

Work groups can be formal or informal. Formal work groups are established to achieve organizational goals. Managers form a product quality committee to handle health and safety concerns in a manufacturing organization. Informal work groups emerge naturally when group members perceive that a group can achieve goals or meet their needs. Coworkers eat lunch each day to satisfy needs for affiliation and friendship. Formal work groups include command groups, task forces, teams, and self-managed work teams. A command group is a collection of subordinates who report to the same supervisor. Command groups are based on formal reporting relationships and often consist of departments.

Formal Groups • Result from the demands and processes of an organization • Designated by the organization as a means to an end – Command group • Comprises subordinates reporting directly to a give supervisor – Task group • Comprises employees who work together to complete a particular task or project Formal groups—those defined by the organization’s structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks a. The behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed toward organizational goals. b. An airline flight crew is an example of a formal group.

Informal Groups • Result from natural groupings of people in work environments in response to social needs • Are important for their own sake – Interest groups • Comprises workers coming together to achieve a mutual objective – Friendship groups • Comprises workers who share something in common Informal groups—alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined a. Natural formations in the work environment in response to the need for social contact b. Three employees from different departments who regularly eat lunch together is an informal group.

Stages of Group Development

Forming:

• Characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure, and leadership.• Members are trying to determine what types of behavior are acceptable.

• Stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of a group.

• Initial entry of members to a group.• Members concern’s include: a. Getting to know each other. b. Discovering what is considered acceptable behavior. c. Determining the group’s real task. d. Defining group rules.

Storming:

• One of intra-group conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but there is resistance

to constraints on individuality.

• Conflict over who will control the group.

• When complete, there will be a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership within the group.

• A period of high emotionality and tension among group members.

• Members concern’s include: a. Formation of coalitions and cliques. b. Dealing with outside demands. c. Clarifying membership expectations. d. Dealing with obstacles to group goals. e. Understanding members’ interpersonal styles.

Norming:

• One in which close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness.

• There is now a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie.

• Stage is complete when the group structure solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines correct member behavior.

• The point at which the group really begins to come together as a coordinated unit.

• Members concern’s include:

• Holding the group together.

• Dealing with divergent views and criticisms.

• Dealing with a premature sense of accomplishment.

Performing:

• The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted.

• Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing.

• For permanent work groups, performing is the last stage in their development.

• Marks the emergence of a mature, organized, and well-functioning group.

• Members deal with complex tasks and handle internal disagreements in creative ways.

• Primary challenge is to continue to improve relationships and performance.

Adjourning:

• For temporary committees, teams, task forces, and similar groups that have a limited task to

perform, there is an adjourning stage.

• In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment. Attention is directed toward wrapping up activities.

• Responses of group members vary in this stage. Some are upbeat, basking in the group’s accomplishments. Others may be depressed over the loss of camaraderie and friendships.

• Particularly important for temporary groups.

• A well-integrated group is:

• Able to disband when its work is finished • Willing to work together in the future.

Trait Theories of Leadership

Early studies identified during personal characteristics and traits that distinguish leaders from

followers and effective from ineffective leaders. They were concerned with leaders’ traits, the

particular tendencies a person has to feel, think, and act in certain ways. Results from nearly 300 studies suggested that the following traits have the strongest relationship to effective leadership:

_ Intelligence _ Task-relevant knowledge _ Dominance (the need to exert influence and control over others) _ Self-confidence _ Energy/activity levels _ Tolerance for stress _ Integrity and honesty _ Emotional maturity

Although understanding leader characteristics is helpful, the trait approach is limited. Whether these traits are key for becoming a leader or result from being a leader is unclear. The trait approach provides little guidance as to how to train or help leaders. Because traits are stable, individuals cannot change traits associated with leadership.

Six traits on which leaders tend to differ from non-leaders are:

• Ambition and energy • Desire to lead • Honesty and integrity • Self-confidence • Intelligence

• Job-relevant knowledge.

Recent research provides strong evidence that people who are high self-monitors are much more likely to emerge as leaders in groups than low self-monitors.

The cumulative findings from a half of a century of research show that some traits increase the

likelihood of success as a leader, but none guarantee success.

The trait approach has at least four limitations:

• First, there are no universal traits that predict in all situations.

• Second, traits predict behavior more in “weak” situations than in “strong” situations.

a. Strong situations are those in which there are strong behavioral norms, strong incentives for

specific types of behaviors, and clear expectations.

b. Such strong situations create less opportunity for leaders to express their inherent

dispositional tendencies.

• Third, the evidence is unclear in separating cause from effect.

• Finally, traits do a better job at predicting the appearance of leadership than in actually

distinguishing between effective and ineffective leaders.

Behavioral Theories of Leadership

Researchers using the behavior approach identified specific behaviors that contribute to

leaders’ effectiveness at helping individuals, groups, and or organizations achieve goals.

The Ohio State researchers developed scales to measure over 1800 leader behaviors and asked

workers to indicate how much their leaders engaged in them. Researchers found that leader

behaviors involved either consideration or initiating structure. Consideration is a

behavior indicating that a leader trusts, respects, and values good relationships with followers. A considerate leader might be friendly, treat others as equals, give explanations, and show concern for workers’ well-being and their opinions.

Initiating structure refers to a leader’s behavior that assures that work is completed and subordinates perform their jobs. This structure includes assigning tasks, planning, setting goals, deciding how tasks are accomplished, and encouraging followers to accomplish them.

Consideration and initiating structures are complementary because leaders can engage in both. They are independent because describing a leader’s consideration does not describe the initiating structure.Researchers using the behavior approach to leadership have identified behaviors similar to consideration and initiating structure. Researchers at the University of Michigan identified two behaviors corresponding to consideration and initiating structure: employee-oriented and job-centered behaviors. An approach to organizational change, called the Managerial Grid, makes managers effective leaders by focusing how much they show concern for people and production. The Hersey and Blanchard model focuses on consideration and initiating structure behaviors.

Studies show no consistent relationship between consideration and high job satisfaction or between initiating structure and subordinates’ performance. Other factors in leader behaviors may have brought about these results.

POWER

If you want to get things done in a group or organization, it helps to have power. As a manager who wants to maximize your power, you will want to increase others’ dependence on you. You can, for instance, increase your power in relation to your boss by developing knowledge or a skill that he needs and for which he perceives no ready substitute, but power is a two-way street. You will not be alone in attempting to build your power bases. Others, particularly employees and peers, will be seeking to make you dependent on them. The result is a continual battle.

Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes.

• Power may exist but not be used. It is, therefore, a capacity or potential.

• Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of dependency.

• The greater B’s dependence on A, the greater is A’s power in the relationship.

• Dependence, in turn, is based on alternatives that B perceives and the importance that B places

on the alternative(s) that A controls.

• A person can have power over you only if he or she controls something you desire.

Kinds of power

Coercive Power:

• The coercive power base is being dependent on fear.

• It rests on the application, or the threat of application, of physical sanctions such as the infliction of pain, the generation of frustration through restriction of movement, or the controlling by force of basic physiological or safety needs.

• At the organizational level, A has coercive power over B if A can dismiss, suspend, or demote

B, assuming that B values his or her job.

• Similarly, if A can assign B work activities that B finds unpleasant or treat B in a manner that B

finds embarrassing, A possesses coercive power over B.

Reward Power:

• The opposite of coercive power is reward power.

• People comply because doing so produces positive benefits; therefore, one who can distribute

rewards that others view as valuable will have power over those others.

• These rewards can be anything that another person values.

• Coercive power and reward power are actually counterparts of each other.

a. If you can remove something of positive value from another or inflict something of negative

value upon him/her, you have coercive power over that person.

b. If you can give someone something of positive value or remove something of negative

value, you have reward power over that person.

Legitimate Power:

• In formal groups and organizations, the most frequent access power is one’s structural position.

It represents the power a person receives as a result of his/her position in the formal hierarchy.

• Positions of authority include coercive and reward powers.

• Legitimate power, however, is broader than the power to coerce and reward. It includes

acceptance of the authority of a position by members of an organization.

Charismatic Power:

• Is an extension of referent power stemming from an individual’s personality and interpersonal

style.

• Others follow because they can articulate attractive visions, take personal risks, demonstrate

follower sensitivity, etc.

Expert Power:

• Expert power is "influence wielded as a result of expertise, special skill, or knowledge."

• Expertise has become a powerful source of influence as the world has become more technological. As jobs become more specialized, we become increasingly dependent on experts

to achieve goals.

Conflict

The process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party. "A process which begins when one party perceives that the other is frustrated, or is about to frustrate, some concern of his (or her)”

• Perceived by the parties

• Parties are in opposition to one another

• At least one party is blocking the goal attainment of the other party

• Goals can be tangible or psychological

– Money – Task Achievement – Happiness

Types of Conflict

􀂃 Task conflict

Conflict over content and goals of the work

􀂃 Relationship conflict

Conflict based on interpersonal relationships

􀂃 Process conflict

Conflict over how work gets done

How can conflict be managed successfully?

Pondy’s model suggests several methods to resolve conflicts. In collaboration, each side works toward a solution to satisfy its own goals plus the goals of the other side—both parties are better off after conflict resolution. In compromise, both parties negotiate to reach a mutually acceptable solution, but not necessarily one that achieves their goals.

A primary responsibility of managers is to help subordinates resolve their disputes. Some managers spend much time managing conflict. Several techniques are helpful in managing conflict so that it results in functional rather than dysfunctional outcomes. These techniques concern changing attitudes and behaviors, changing task relationships, and changing the organizational structure or situation.

Individual-Level Conflict Management

Education and training helps resolve conflict. Sensitivity training or diversity awareness programs help employees appreciate different attitudes.

Job rotation and temporary assignments in other departments help people see another perspective. Promotions, transfers, and firings remove individuals from conflict situation.

Group-Level Conflict Management

At the group level, physically separating groups or changing task relationships means they no longer interact. Contact between groups occurs through people with integrating roles. Managers develop rules, procedures, and common goals to coordinate group activities.

These methods temporarily resolve a conflict because the underlying causes are not addressed. Many organizations resolve conflict at its source, through individual-level conflict management techniques or letting the groups to work out a joint solution.

Negotiation

Negotiation is a process in which groups with conflicting interests meet to make offers, counteroffers, and concessions to resolve differences. Negotiations may include a third-party negotiator—an outsider skilled in handling bargaining and negotiation—who helps find a solution.

The third party acts as a mediator, taking a neutral stance and helping parties reconcile their differences. If no solution is reached, the third party acts as an arbiter, or judge, imposing a solution.

Two processes occur in any negotiation situation:

(1) Distributive bargaining, in which parties decide how resources are distributed, and

(2) attitudinal structuring, in which parties try to influence their opponent’s attitudes, perhaps appearing aggressive to increase their resource share or by appearing conciliatory to preserve

a relationship.

Negotiation and bargaining are difficult processes in which a lot of give-and-take and posturing occurs. The process usually takes several months because the parties discover what they can and cannot get.

Stress

Stress affects individual well-being and has the potential to affect the extent to which individuals and organizations achieve their goals and perform at a high level. Stress is bound up with workers’ personal lives; thus the study of stress also entails exploring the nature of work-life linkages. People experience stress when they fact opportunities or threats that they perceive as important and also perceive they might not be able to handle or deal with effectively. An opportunity is something that has the potential to benefit a person. A threat is something that has the potential to harm a person. Stress is a highly personal experience influenced by an individual’s personality, abilities, and perceptions; what is stressful for one person might not be stressful for another.

Consequences of Stress

Stress shows itself in a number of ways—physiological, psychological, and behavioral symptoms.

1. Physiological symptoms:

• Most of the early concern with stress was directed at physiological symptoms due to the fact

that specialists in the health and medical sciences researched the topic. • Physiological symptoms have the least direct relevance to students of OB.

2. Psychological symptoms:

Job-related stress can cause job-related dissatisfaction.

• Job dissatisfaction is “the simplest and most obvious psychological effect” of stress.

• Multiple and conflicting demands—lack of clarity as to the incumbent’s duties, authority, and

responsibilities—increase stress and dissatisfaction. • The less control people have over the pace of their work, the greater the stress and dissatisfaction.

3. Behavioral symptoms:

• Behaviorally related stress symptoms include changes in productivity, absence, and turnover, as

well as changes in eating habits, increased smoking or consumption of alcohol, rapid speech, fidgeting, and sleep disorders. • The stress-performance relationship is shown in Exhibit 19-11.

a. The logic underlying the inverted U is that low to moderate levels of stress stimulate

the body and increase its ability to react. b. Individuals then often perform their tasks better, more intensely, or more rapidly. C. But too much stress places unattainable demands or constraints on a person, which result in lower performance. d. Even moderate levels of stress can have a negative influence on performance over the long term as the continued intensity of the stress wears down the individual and saps his/her energy resources. • In spite of the popularity and intuitive appeal of the inverted-U model, it doesn’t get a lot of empirical support.

Short-Term Physical Symptoms • Faster heart beat • Increased sweating • Cool skin • Cold hands and feet • Feelings of nausea, or 'Butterflies in stomach' • Rapid Breathing • Tense Muscles • Dry Mouth • A desire to urinate • Diarrhea

Long-term Physical Symptoms • Change in appetite • Frequent colds • Illnesses such as: • Asthma • Back pain • Digestive problems • Headaches • Aches and pains • Feelings of intense and long-term tiredness

Stress Management

“Stress Management Procedures for helping people cope with or reduce stress already being experienced”

1. Individual approaches:

• Effective individual strategies include implementing time management techniques, increasing

physical exercise, relaxation training, and expanding the social support network.• Practicing time management principles such as:(a). making daily lists of activities to be accomplished b. prioritizing activities by importance and urgency c. scheduling activities according to the priorities set d. knowing your daily cycle and handling the most demanding parts of your job during the high part of your cycle when you are most alert and productive.

• Having friends, family, or work colleagues to talk to provides an outlet for excessive stress.

2. Organizational approaches

• Strategies that management might want to consider include: a. improved personnel selection and job placement b. use of realistic goal setting, redesigning of jobs c. training d. increased employee involvement e. improved organizational communication f. establishment of corporate wellness programs