ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSIS

RATIONALE AND AIMS OF THE COURSE

Understanding the complexity of Organizational Behavior is essential for effective

management. Whether specializing in finance, marketing or production – all
management involves management of people and inherently about organizing,
influencing and modifying the behavior of others.

The social sciences have developed ways of analyzing and understanding our social
behavior in organizations, with particular emphasis on the organizations with in which
we work and are employed. This course takes a social science perspective to introduce
students to the key concepts and theoretical approaches used in understanding social
behavior in organizations, and to models of organizational analysis.

This will be done with reference to examples of contemporary organizations and against
the background of the current complex and turbulent changes in the context in which
organizations operate.

We are yet to examine the behavior of individuals and how they interact with each other
in different workplace organizations. Topics include defining organizational behavior;
perception, personality and emotions; values, attitudes and their effects in the
workplace; motivating self and others; working in teams; communication, conflict and
negotiation; power and politics; leadership; decision making, creativity and ethics; and
organizational culture and change.

OBJECTIVES

By the end of the course students will:

 Understand the nature of the business organization and its determining

characteristics
 Understand the bases for conflict and co-operation in the employment
relationship
 Be able to distinguish between leadership, power and authority, and understand
the nature of decision making
 Be able to recognize different organizational structures – and be aware of how
the structure of organizations is changing as a response to a changing
environment
 Explain the organizational behavioral challenges in the work environment.

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  Illustrate the impact of perception, personality and emotions.
 Articulate the impact of values, attitudes and the influence of diversity.
 Describe the major motivational theories that affect the workplace.
 Critique the most popular bases of power in organizations.
 Describe individual and group, creative, and ethical decision making.
 Define organizational culture and elaborate on its impact on performance.

ASSESSMENT

The course will be assessed through course individual works, tests, group work and a
final examination at the end of the Semester. The course works and tests will contribute
40% while the examination will contribute the remaining 60%.

Regular attendance of lectures and active participation and contribution in class will be
important and can be used at any time if need arises as a yardstick for grading.

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DETAILED COURSE OUTLINE

1. INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Importance of organizational behavior
Factors that affect organizational behavior
Concepts of organizational behavior
Scope of organizational behavior
Organizational behavior models
2. LEARNING
Components of the learning process
Factors affecting learning
Learning theories
Learning and organizational behavior
3. PERSONALITY PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTES
PERSONALITY
Reasons for studying personality
Personality moderating factors
Major personality attributes
Theories of personality
PERCEPTION
Perception process
How to manage the perceptual process
Factors that affect the perceptual process
Importance of perception in organizational behavior
Stages of the perceptual process
Causes of perceptual distortion
ATTRIBUTION
Attribution theories
Factors affecting attribution
Fundamental attribution errors
4. ATTITUDES AND VALUES
ATTITUDES

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 Components of attitudes
Attitude moderating variables
Barriers to changing attitudes
Methods to overcome barriers to changing attitudes
Types of attitudes
Consequences of attitude towards organizational performance
VALUE
Importance of values
Classifying values
Values according to Hofstede
5. MOTIVATION
Components of motivation
Importance of motivation
Models of motivation
Motivation theories
Motivators in an organization
Ways to motivate employees
How to motivate people the PRIDE SYSTEM
6. GROUP DYNAMICS AND DECISION MAKING
Types of groups
Reasons for joining groups
Group formation stages/development
Causes of group conflict
Improving group performance
Group decision making techniques
Impact of group decision making
Decision environment
Types of decisions
Approaches to problem solving and decision making
7. TEAMS IN AN ORGANISATION
Difference between teams and groups

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 Types/categories of teams
Requirements for effective teams
8. LEADERSHIP
Importance of leadership to an organization
Leadership styles
Leadership theories
9. ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT AND STRESS MANAGEMENT
ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT
Classification of conflict
Sources of conflict
Conflict management techniques
STRESS MANAGEMENT
Sources of stress
Effects of job stress
Consequences of stress
Methods of managing stress
10. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE; CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE
ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE
Elements of organizational culture
Types of organizational culture
How to create a sustainable organizational culture
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Causes of organizational change
Liabilities of organizational change
Kurt Lewin’s forces field analysis
Importance of organizational change
Planned change
Types of planned change
STRUCTURE
Concepts of an organization
Factors affecting organizational structure

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 Effects of organizational structure on employee behavior
Approaches to organizational design
11. POWER AND POLITICS
POWER
Sources of power
How power is acquired
Theories of power
POLITICS
Levels of politics
Political tactics
Dubrin’s strategy for gaining political power in an organisation

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READING LIST

1. Bedeian G. A. and Zamuto F. R. (1991) Organisations: Theory and Design,

Dryder Press: Chicago
2. Blunt Peter (1985) Organisation Theory and Behavior: An African Perspective,
Longman:
a. New York
3. Child J. (1984) Organisation: A Guide to Problems and Practice (2 nd Ed.) Paul
Chapman: London
4. Davis K. and Newstrom W. J. (1985) Human Behaviour at work: Organisational
Behaviour
a. (7th Ed.) McGraw-Hill: New York
5. Dawson S. (1986) Analysing Organisations, Macmillan: London
6. Fincham, R. and Rhodes, P. (1988) The Individual, Work and Organisation:
Behavioural Studies
a. for Business and Management Students, Weidenfeld and Nicolson Ltd:
London
7. Gibson, L. J, 1997, Organizations: Behavior, structure, Processes, McGraw-Hill:
New York
8. Hersey, P., Blanchard H. K. and Johnson E. D. (1996) Management of
Organisational Behavior:
a. Utilising Human Resources, Prentice Hall: New Jersey
9. Kamenka E. (1989) Bureaucracy: New Perspectives on the Past, Blackwell:
Oxford
10. Luthans F. (1988) Organisation Behaviour (4 th Ed.) McGraw-Hill: Singapore
11. Luthans, F., 2002, Organizational Behavior (9 th Ed.); McGraw-Hill: New York

12. Moorehead, G. and Griffin, W. R. (1995), Organisational Behavior: Managing

People and
a. Organisations (4th Ed.) Houghton Miffin: Boston
13. Peters, T. and Austin, T. 1985, A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership
Difference, New York:
a. Random House
14. Pugh D.S. (Ed.) (1988) Organisation Theory: Selected Readings, (2 nd Ed.)
Pengium: London
15. Sallis E. and Sallis K. (1988) People in Organisations, Macmillan: London
16. Simon A. H. (1976) Administrative Behaviour: A Study of Decision-Making
Process in

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 a. Administrative Organisation (3rd Ed), The Free Press: New York
17. Stewart R. (1985) The Reality of Organisations: A Guide for Managers,
Macmillan: London

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INTRODUCTIONTO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOR

The study of Organizational Behavior (OB) is very interesting and challenging too. It is
related to individuals, group of people working together in teams. The study becomes
more challenging when situational factors interact. The study of organizational behavior
relates to the expected behavior of an individual in the organization. No two individuals
are likely to behave in the same manner in a particular work situation. It is the
predictability of a manager about the expected behavior of an individual. There are no
absolutes in human behavior. It is the human factor that is contributory to the
productivity hence the study of human behavior is important. Great importance therefore
must be attached to the study. Researchers, management practitioners, psychologists,
and social scientists must understand the very credentials of an individual, his
background, social framework, educational update, impact of social groups and other
situational factors on behavior. Managers under whom an individual is working should
be able to explain, predict, evaluate and modify human behavior that will largely depend
upon knowledge, skill and experience of the manager in handling large group of people
in diverse situations. Preemptive actions need to be taken for human behavior
forecasting. The value system, emotional intelligence, organizational culture, job design
and the work environment are important causal agents in determining human behavior.
Cause and effect relationship plays an important role in how an individual is likely to
behave in a particular situation and its impact on productivity. An appropriate
organizational culture can modify individual behavior. Recent trends exist in laying
greater stress on organizational development and imbibing a favorable organizational
culture in each individual. It also involves fostering a team spirit and motivation so that
the organizational objectives are achieved.

The field of the organizational behavior does not depend upon deductions based on gut
feelings but attempts to gather information regarding an issue in a scientific manner
under controlled conditions. It uses information and interprets the findings so that the
behavior of an individual and group can be canalized as desired. Large number of
psychologists, social scientists and academicians has carried out research on various
issues related to organization behavior. Employee performance and job satisfaction are
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determinants of accomplishment of individual and organizational goals. Organizations
have been set up to fulfill needs of the people. In today’s competitive world, the
organizations have to be growth-oriented. This is possible when productivity is ensured
with respect to quantity of product to be produced with zero error quality. Employee
absenteeism and turnover has a negative impact on productivity. Employee who
absents frequently cannot contribute towards productivity and growth of the
organization. In the same manner, employee turnover causes increased cost of
production. Job satisfaction is a major factor to analyse performance of an individual
towards his work. Satisfied workers are productive workers who contribute towards
building an appropriate work culture in an organization. Organizations are composed of
number of individuals working independently or collectively in teams, and number of
such teams makes a department and number of such departments makes an
organization. It is a formal structure and all departments have to function in a
coordinated manner to achieve the organizational objective. It is therefore important for
all employees to possess a positive attitude towards work. They need to function in
congenial atmosphere and accomplish assigned goals. It is also important for managers
to develop an appropriate work culture. Use of authority, delegation of certain powers to
subordinates, division of labor, efficient communication, benchmarking, re-engineering,
job re-design and empowerment are some of the important factors so that an
organization can function as well-oiled machine. This is not only applicable to
manufacturing organizations but also to service and social organizations
Organizational Behavior (OB) can be defined as the understanding, prediction and
management of human behavior both individually or in a group that occur within an
organization.

Organizational behavior is the study of how people behave both individually and within
informal and formal groups. Every organization’s performance is ultimately dependent
on the motivational levels of its human resources and the willingness and ability of
people to work harmoniously and effectively towards the accomplishment of shared
goals. In this course, you will explore and examine the interrelationships of individual
personality and work, the characteristics of organizations and their environments and
the challenges presented by the ever-changing combination of these factors.
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DEFINITIONOF OB
“Organizational behavior is a field of study that investigates the impact that
individuals, groups and organizational structure have on behavior within the
organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving an
organizational effectiveness”. The above definition has three main elements; first
organizational behavior is an investigative study of individuals and groups, second, the
impact of organizational structure on human behavior and the third, the application of
knowledge to achieve organizational effectiveness. These factors are interactive in
nature and the impact of such behavior is applied to various systems so that the goals
are achieved. The nature of study of organizational behavior is investigative to establish
cause and effect relationship.

OB involves integration of studies undertaken relating to behavioral sciences like

psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics, social psychology and political
science. Therefore, organizational behavior is a comprehensive field of study in which
individual, group and organizational structure is studied in relation to organizational
growth and organizational culture, in an environment where impact of modern
technology is great. The aim of the study is to ensure that the human behaviour
contributes towards growth of the organization and greater efficiency is achieved.
Organizational behavior can be defined as – “the study and application of
knowledge about human behavior related to other elements of an organization
such as structure, technology and social systems (LM Prasad). Stephen P Robins
defines “Organizational behavior as a systematic study of the actions and
attitudes that people exhibit within organizations.” It has been observed that we
generally form our opinion based on the symptoms of an issue and do not really go to
the root cause of the happening. Science of organizational behavior is applied in nature.
Disciplines like psychology, anthropology and political science have contributed in terms
of various studies and theories to the field of organizational behavior. A leader should
be able to communicate with his subordinate and keep them in picture as to the
happenings in the organization. People promote organizational culture for mutual

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benefit. Politics is often used to create conflict with the aim of enlarging self-power base
to the detrimental of organizational growth. Politics, in Indian context has made inroads
based on religion, caste system in the decision making process which has led to
formation of informal groups in the organization that often exploit the organization for
fulfillment of personal goals at the cost of organizational goals. Conflict and
manipulating power bases need to be handled in an appropriate manner to modify
human behavior and stimulate various individuals towards achieving higher productivity.
Power dynamics plays a significant role in organization situations in different
environment.

Contributing Fields to Organizational Behavior

1. 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.
2. 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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 3. 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 abide by the rules of the
government of the day.
4. Social psychology: Working organizations are formal assembly of people who
are assigned 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.
5. 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.

IMPORTANCE OF OB
While working in an organization, it is very important to understand others behavior as
well as make others understand ours. In order to maintain a healthy working
environment, we need to adapt to the environment and understand the goals we need
to achieve. This can be done easily if we understand the importance of OB.

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Following points bring out the importance of OB −

 It helps in explaining the interpersonal relationships employees share with each

other as well as with their higher and lower subordinates.

 The prediction of individual behavior can be explained.

 It balances the cordial relationship in an enterprise by maintaining effective

communication.

 It assists in marketing.

 It helps managers to encourage their sub-ordinates.

 Any change within the organization can be made easier.

 It helps in predicting human behavior & their application to achieve

organizational goals.

 It helps in making the organization more effective.

Thus studying organizational behavior helps in recognizing the patterns of human

behavior and in turn throws light on how these patterns profoundly influence the
performance of an organization.

ORGANIZATIONAL COMPONENTS THAT NEED TO BE MANAGED

1. People: People are the main component of any organization that has to be
managed. Every individual has a personal goal to be achieved. Organizations
must identify the need spectrum of individuals and take suitable steps for its
fulfillment to enable them to perform effectively so that they complete their
allotted task in time. Relationship between the workers, with subordinates and
superiors should be established based on full understanding and complete faith
based on mutual trust so that it is easy to communicate and understand each
other’s views. Work teams and Groups play a vital role in the organization.
Individual may have to keep his personal interest aside if it conflicts with team or

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 group goals. It is the team goals, accomplishment of which contribute towards
achieving organizational goals. Apart from managing internal workforce, it is also
important to manage customers who are the end persons using organization’s
products or services. Utmost interest of stakeholders, government, employees,
social groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must be kept in mind
as they play a dominant role in the society. Apart from the above, adequate
consideration should also be given to competitors, regulatory agencies, labor
force, suppliers and resource persons.
2. Structure: There are two types of organizations, formal and informal. Informal
organizations do not have a specified structure. Formal organizations are build
based upon the objective set for it. Organizational structure in such organization
is hierarchical in nature, with people at each level having their own objectives,
which contributes towards fulfillment of overall organizational objectives. In such
organization people at lower levels report to higher level managers. The tier
system has the principle of unity of command inbuilt in it. The organization
structure may depend upon the size, number of products/services produced, skill
and experience of the employees, managerial staff and geographical location of
the organization. An organization may have several levels and pyramid like
organizational structure or flat structure. The efficiency of the organization will
depend upon the free flow of the information, efficient communication system
prevailing in the organization, well-defined authority and responsibility supported
by detailed policies, rules and regulations. The organization must have well laid
out systems, which are understood by workers, supervisors and managers. The
leader must keep open mind while dealing with subordinates and exercise full
control over various systems, levels and ensure planned productivity and achieve
high level of job satisfaction.
3. Technology: Managing technology is an important job of any management. It is
an important element of any unit. Selection of technology, procurement,
installation, operation and maintenance is important and no compromise should
be made in procuring latest or advanced technology. Various systems and
sub- systems should support technology that exists in an organization. Based on

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 the technology, an organization should formulate job structure and resultant
procurement of human resource so that they are complimentary to each other.
Adequate attention is also be paid to service industry. For example an
appropriate drill, procedures are installed in hospital industry to ensure that the
patients’ record is maintained properly. On line operations of all systems relating
to admission record, past treatment, drugs, availability of beds, schedule of
operations maintained so that the level of patients satisfaction is raised. In
minimum number of days, maximum numbers of patients should be treated.
Various processes required to regulate these functions form the important part of
service industry.
4. Jobs: Job is an assignment assigned to an individual. It encompasses various
tasks within it. For example, Personnel manager wants to fill up twelve vacancies
in production department within three months. Job will have various tasks inbuilt
in it like designing of job specification, selection of media, advertising vacancies,
scheduling of selection and recruiting process. Manager, therefore have to
manage various tasks to accomplish a particular job. This may form a part of
managerial functions. Adequate delegation, supervision, application of various
control techniques makes the job simpler for the manager. Introduction of
computers have made managerial functions simpler, as required information is
available for decision making.
5. Processes: Management of processes and its inter-dependence is very crucial
to high productivity and higher job satisfaction. What is important for a manager
is to ensure high morale of the work force. To ensure this, he must identify
various managerial dictums. Select appropriate subordinates to carry out a job
based on aptitude, personality traits, mental build up and attitude. He should also
involve himself and lead subordinates by personal example. In defense services,
it is the quality of leadership that motivates troops to achieve near impossible
task where everything appears to be going wrong. Various role models assist
leaders in identifying as to which process, method or approach would be suitable
to mould subordinates in suitable frame that may be required by any
organization. Nothing motivates workers better if you give them their entitlements

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 in full and train them to take up higher jobs. By doing so, manager must develop
and build an organizational culture that will bind employees to a common cultural
bond. During day-to-day functions, managers must be transparent and maintain
a high degree of value system and display ethical behavior. There are no short
cuts to this and will pay rich dividends in times to come.
6. External Environment: What we have so far discussed is various components
of an organization that should be managed properly. External environment also
plays an important role in managing the points discussed above. When we talk
about managing people in the organization, what we have to study and manage
is the influence of culture and its impact on the individual. A manager should
examine as to how he is going to cope up with the changes. Study of external
environment is very wide and encompasses economic, cultural, social,
government rules and regulations, legal aspects, political climate, demographics
and its impact. If one scans the external environment that is prevailing in Indian
context, one will find that individuals are racing to catch up the upper class as it
relates to standards of living, material possession, higher education, attempt to
copy western culture, food habits, dressing pattern and the like. Beauty parlors,
pubs and cyber cafes around each corner are an ample evidence of the impact of
external environment. This trend has an impact on what products or services are
on priority in the society and indicates the behavior of an individual. If the above
factors are evaluated appropriately, a manager will be able to examine and
predict human behavior in the organization. It is therefore important to evaluate
market situation, competitors, and availability of raw material, technology,
availability of skilled, semi skilled and non-skilled personnel. In addition, evaluate
prevailing culture and how individuals are likely to respond to the call of the
organization. Some factors like government rules, and political stability keep
changing, the organizations must cater for such contingencies. Manager must
therefore keep in mind the internal and external factors and make the best
amalgam and work to achieve organizational effectiveness.

CONCEPTS OF OB
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The concept of OB is based on two key elements namely −

 Nature of people

 Nature of the organization

1. Nature of People
In simple words, nature of people is the basic qualities of a person, or the character
that personifies an individual they can be similar or unique. Talking at the
organizational level, some major factors affecting the nature of people have been
highlighted. They are −

 Individual Difference − It is the managerial approach towards each employee

individually, that is one-on-one approach and not the statistical approach, that is,
avoidance of single rule. Example− Manager should not be biased towards any
particular employee rather should treat them equally and try not to judge anyone
on any other factor apart from their work.

 Perception − It is a unique ability to observe, listen and conclude something. It

is believing in our senses. In short, the way we interpret things and have our
point of view is our perception. Example − Aman thinks late night parties spoil
youth while Anamika thinks late night parties are a way of making new friends.
Here we see both Aman and Anamika have different perception about the same
thing.

 A whole person − As we all know that a person’s skill or brain cannot be

employed we have to employee a whole person. Skill comes from background
and knowledge. Our personal life cannot be totally separated from our work life,
just like emotional conditions are not separable from physical conditions. So,
people function is the functioning of a total human being not a specific feature of
human being.

 Motivated behavior − It is the behavior implanted or caused by some motivation

from some person, group or even a situation. In an organization, we can see two
different types of motivated employees −

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 o Positive motivation − Encouraging others to change their behavior or
say complete a task by luring them with promotions or any other profits.
Example − “If you complete this, you will gain this.”

o Negative motivation − Forcing or warning others to change their

behavior else there can be serious consequences. Example − “If you
don’t complete this, you will be deprived from the office.”

 Value of person − Employees want to be valued and appreciated for their skills
and abilities followed by opportunities which help them develop themselves.

2. Nature of Organization
Nature of organization states the motive/objective of the firm. It is the opportunities it
provides in the global market. It also defines the employees’ standard; in short, it
defines the character of the company by acting as a mirror reflection of the company.
We can understand the nature of any firm with its social system, the mutual interest it
shares and the work ethics.

Let us take a quick look at all these factors −

 Social system − Every organization socializes with other firms, their customers,
or simply the outer world, and all of its employees - their own social roles and
status. Their behavior is mainly influenced by their group as well as individual
drives. Social system are of two types namely −

o Formal − Groups formed by people working together in a firm or people

that belong to the same club is considered as formal social
system. Example − A success party after getting a project.

o Informal − A group of friends, people socializing with others freely,

enjoying, partying or chilling.Example − Birthday party.

 Mutual interest − Every organization needs people and people need

organizations to survive and prosper. Basically it’s a mutual understanding

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 between the organization and the employees that helps both reach their
respective objectives. Example − We deposit our money in the bank, in return
the bank gives us loan, interest, etc.

 Ethics − They are the moral principles of an individual, group, and organization.
In order to attract and keep valuable employees, ethical treatment is necessary
and some moral standards need to be set. In fact, companies are now
establishing code of ethics training reward for notable ethical behavior.

SCOPE OF OB

In a very broad sense, the scope of OB is the extent to which it can govern or
influence the operations of an organization. The scope of OB integrates 3 concepts
respectively −

1. Individual Behavior
It is the study of individual’s personality, learning, attitudes, motivation, and job
satisfaction. In this study, we interact with others in order to study about them and
make our perception about them.

Example − The personal interview round is conducted to interact with candidates to

check their skills, apart from those mentioned in the resume.

2. Inter-individual Behavior
It is the study conducted through communication between the employees among
themselves as well as their subordinates, understanding people’s leadership qualities,
group dynamics, group conflicts, power and politics.

Example − A meeting to decide list of new board members.

3. Group Behavior
Group behavior studies the formation of organization, structure of organization and
effectiveness of organization. The group efforts made towards the achievement of
organization’s goal is group behavior. In short, it is the way how a group behaves.

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OB MODELS

Organizational behavior reflects the behavior of the people and management all
together, it is considered as a field of study not just a discipline. A discipline is an
accepted science that is based upon theoretical foundation, whereas OB is an inter-
disciplinary approach where knowledge from different disciplines like psychology,
sociology, anthropology, etc. are included. It is used to solve organizational problems,
especially those related to human beings.

There are four different types of models in OB. We will throw some light on each of
these four models.

1. Autocratic Model
The root level of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The
employees in this model are oriented towards obedience and discipline. They are
dependent on their boss. The employee requirement that is met is subsistence. The
performance result is less.

The major drawbacks of this model are people are easily frustrated, insecurity,
dependency on the superiors, minimum performance because of minimum wage.

2. Custodial Model
The root level of this model is economic resources with a managerial orientation of
money. The employees in this model are oriented towards security and benefits
provided to them. They are dependent on the organization. The employee requirement
that is met is security.

This model is adapted by firms having high resources as the name suggest. It is
dependent on economic resources. This approach directs to depend on firm rather
than on manager or boss. They give passive cooperation as they are satisfied but not
strongly encouraged.

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3. Supportive Model
The root level of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support. The
employees in this model are oriented towards their job performance and participation.
The employee requirement that is met is status and recognition. The performance
result is awakened drives.

This model is dependent on leadership strive. It gives a climate to help employees

grow and accomplish the job in the interest of the organization. Management job is to
assist the employee’s job performance. Employees feel a sense of participation.

4. Collegial Model
The root level of this model is partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork.
The employees in this model are oriented towards responsible behavior and self-
discipline. The employee requirement that is met is self-actualization. The performance
result is moderate zeal.

This is an extension of supportive model. The team work approach is adapted for this
model. Self-discipline is maintained. Workers feel an obligation to uphold quality
standard for the better image of the company. A sense of “accept” and “respect” is
seen.

Sample questions
1. Define organizational behavior. What are various factors that are considered to
regulate individual behavior?
2. What are various fields that have contributed to the field of organizational behavior?
Explain their contributions.
3. Explain various components that should be taken care of while studying
organizational behavior.
4. Explain the field of organizational behavior and why the study is challenging.

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Case-1

NATIONAL CADET CORPS (NCC) – A BOON FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT

V.G. Kondalkar

National Cadet Corps (NCC) is a national organization having junior wing and senior
wing both for girls and boys. Junior wing NCC is meant for secondary school level and
senior wing is applicable for college students. The objective of NCC organization is to
inculcate discipline for the youth of our nation. An Army Officer of the rank of Lt General
called Director General (DG) heads NCC organization at national level. The
organization has a vast network at each state level headed by an officer of the rank of
Brigadier known as Deputy Director General (DDG) of a particular state. In every state
there are number of Group Headquarters located at important cities depending upon
school and college density and compositions. Under Group Headquarters there are
number of NCC Battalions (Boys/ Girls). Number of battalions in each Group
Headquarters varies depending upon the size of the area. In the same fashion, number
of groups under a DDG varies. NCC is applicable to all school/ college going children. It
is voluntary organization in nature. DDGs, group commanders and battalion
commanders organize various events round the year. These are as under:

(a) Participation in professional training that includes the following:

– Weapon training, including firing or rifles, sten guns, light machine guns.

– Drill.

– First aid training in various contingencies.

– Basic field craft and guard duties.

– Basic battle craft at a level of a section (section comprises of ten men)

(b) Organization of training camps where teamwork, comradeship, cooperation and

events mention in (a) above are practiced. The training camps are generally of the
duration of two weeks. Such camps are held twice a year.

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(c) After completion of two and four years of training, B certification and C certificates
respectively are awarded to the cadets. The certificates have preference for admission
to various professional courses like medicine. It also has a weight age for government
jobs. A person having C certificate need not appear in the written examination
conducted by UPSC for commissioned officers of the defence services which is a major
concession. Such students have to face Service Selection Boards direct, for selection in
the defence services as commissioned officers.

(d) Individual having C certification (which is achieved after four years of NCC training)
gets six months seniority in defence services.

(e) NCC is considered as one of the best organizations of our country. The organization
has produced better citizens.

During the course of the attachment, the cadets are given full NCC kit. Refreshment is
provided during parade days (twice a week). The cadets are provided meals,
transportation and medical facility. The training in the organization is a costly affair to
the exchequer of the state government. NCC officers have to interact with civil
administration at state level, district level, and with principals/ directors of the colleges.
They have to deal with local population, medical authorities, RTO and all agencies
related with civil administration. This involves advance planning, good communication
and inter-personal relationship. Social, cultural and ethnic activities are promoted in the
NCC. Annual training camps are held at state or national level. Cadets, develop
friendship with various individuals and learn to live in a community environment during
training camps. NCC covers land, air and naval branches and all cadets are put through
training in the skill development of respective wings.

Questions

Q. 1. Why NCC is considered as one of the best organizations.

Q. 2. How does the organization relate to field of organizational behavior? What are
various agencies that the officials have to interact?

Q. 3. What are the benefits of NCC?

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Q. 4. How does the management interact with external environmental forces?

Practical Assignment

25
Case-2

OVERCOMING ABSENTEEISM AT UNIQUE SCHWEPPES LTD

Unique Schweppes Ltd was multinational Public limited Company with its head office at

London. The company’s 51 % shares were held by Unique and 49% by Government
financial Institutions and individual shareholders. Unique owns three factories and three
partly manufacturing units i.e. they had 6 primary manufacturing units located at
Jammu, Nagpur, Agra, Pune, Gorakhapur and Hyderabad. The total manpower in these
six units was 1900, and was held by Mathew Thomas as managing director. Five
directors looking after various financial areas like technical, operations, commercial, HR
and marketing, supported him.

Agra unit was situated near Mathura with a manpower capacity of 450 employees,
including 41 executives, 12 managers and remaining operators. A representative union
was also registered in the name of Association of Chemical Workers in the company.
This unit was working in 3 shifts and for all the seven days. The average age of the
employees was around 30 years. Agra unit was the only automated plant among the
plants of Unique India. It had a unique feature of cross-functional activities at the
managerial level with the result a strong networking was observed. Emphasis on
financial relations among the employees was given to promote simplified working and
better understanding among them. Unique was known for its welfare facilities like – free
canteen, free transportation, free uniform, medical re-imbursement up to 5% of the
gross salary and all other benefits according to the statutory norms. They also provide
with housing loan facilities to employees through HDFC and State Bank of India. Unique
re-imbrued the interest amount on house loan exceeding 4%. The loan entitlement is
dependent upon the income of workers. Inspite of all the facilities provided to the
workers absenteeism was very high thus creating problems in the production. In July
1995, HR executive, Alok Gupta received a complaint from line supervisor, Prakash
Sharma that production was suffering due to absenteeism in his department. Alok
Gupta was perplexed. The reason being that with 52 weekly off, 9 casual leaves and 22
earned leaves provided to the workers in line with Factory Act 1948 under Section 52,

26
the absenteeism rate was still 18 %. In January 1996, a meeting was called by Alok
Gupta and in consultation with Prakash Sharma, it was decided that warning should be
given to cronic cases and the workers who had started remaining absent should be
counseled. Inspite of doing this no change was observed until April 1996. Alok Gupta
reported to Priya Kumar, Human resources manager about increasing complaints
related to absenteeism. Priya Kumar, Alok Gupta and Prakash Sharma in a brain
storming session concluded that punishment was not the solution. An Incentive scheme
was felt to be the solution to the existing problem. Thus, the management offered the
employees the scheme of doubling the amount of annual interest free loans from Rs
5000 to Rs 10 000 to those who were regular at their work. A plan chalked out for this:

(a) Employee who had worked for more than 280 days out of 365 days would get

Rs 10,000 interest free loan. Employees who were present for more than 230 working
days, amount of free loan would be Rs 5000. For less than 230 there would be no loan
facilities.

(b) In a period of 4 months, if an employee availed no leave then he would be entitled

for additional payment of Rs 500. If a half-day leave, it would be Rs 350 and for one day
leave it would be Rs 250. Similarly, some workers who had not shown any improvement
in their attendance, it was decided that charge- sheet would be issued. However, when
the charge sheet was issued to such cases the union members resisted. A meeting
called by Priya Kumar in which he briefed about the problem of absenteeism and
justified the action taken by the management. Ultimately union members were
convinced but insisted on counselling and introducing new incentive schemes instead of
disciplinary actions alone. During counselling sessions management found some of the
reasons which led to absenteeism were high salary, festival celebration, dual
employment, very good family background, age factor and defective recruitment policies
as fresher were taken from ITI and where less serious about their work and less
motivated towards accomplishment of the organizational goals. It was observed in the
beginning of 1999, that the rate of absenteeism had decreased from 18% to 16 %. But it
was not satisfactory and hence management decided to put in more efforts in the form
of new incentives schemes which were best on social recognition like; tea party,

27
attendance awards, recognition by senior executives at work place and celebrating
family day on 17 September i.e., on Vishwakarma Jayanti. By the end of 1999, they had
introduced all monetary as well as social benefits schemes yet three employees among
the nine employees who had been issued the charge sheet in September, 1998 had not
shown any improvement and remained absent for more than 200 days out of 280
working days. Therefore, the management finally decided to terminate them, and
termination letters were issued to them. In the year 2000, a remarkable decline was
found in the rate of absenteeism. It had reduced from 16% to 12%.

QUESTIONS

1. In your opinion, which alternative steps would be more effective for reducing
absenteeism?

2. What is the role of non-financial incentives over the financial incentives?

3. How do you evaluate the impact of termination on absenteeism?

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LEARNING

Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and
indirect experience. It means change in behavior, attitude due to education and
training, practice and experience. It is completed by acquisition of knowledge and
skills, which are relatively permanent.

COMPONENTS OF THE LEARNING PROCESS

The components of learning process are: drive, cue stimuli, response, reinforcement
and retention.

1. Drive

Learning frequently occurs in the presence of drive - any strong stimulus that impels
action. Drives are basically of two types -primary (or physiological); and secondary (or
psychological). These two categories of drives often interact with each other.
Individuals operate under many drives at the same time. To predict a behavior, it is
necessary to establish which drives are stimulating the most.

2. Cue Stimuli

Cue stimuli are those factors that exist in the environment as perceived by the
individual. The idea is to discover the conditions under which stimulus will increase the
probability of eliciting a specific response. There may be two types i of stimuli with
respect to their results in terms of response concerned: generalization and
discrimination.

Generalization occurs when a response is elicited by a similar but new stimulus. If two
stimuli are exactly alike, they will have the same probability of evoking a specified
response. The principle of generalization has important implications for human

29
learning. Because of generalization, a person does not have to 'completely relearn
each of the new tasks. It allows the members to adapt to overall changing conditions
and specific new assignments. The individual can borrow from past learning
experiences to adjust more smoothly to new learning situations.

Discrimination is a procedure in which an organization learns to emit a response to a

stimulus but avoids making the same response to a similar but somewhat different
stimulus. Discrimination has wide applications in 'organizational behavior. For example,
a supervisor can discriminate between two equally high producing workers, one with
low quality and other with high quality.

3. Responses

The stimulus results in responses. Responses may be in the physical form or may be
in terms of attitudes, familiarity, perception or other complex phenomena. In the above
example, the supervisor discriminates between the worker producing low quality
products and the worker producing high quality products, and positively responds only
to the quality conscious worker.

4. Reinforcement

Reinforcement is a fundamental condition of learning. Without reinforcement, no

measurable modification of behavior takes place. Reinforcement may be defined as the
environmental event's affecting the probability of occurrence of responses with which
they are associated.

5. Retention

The stability of learned behavior over time is defined as retention and its contrary is
known as forgetting. Some of the learning is retained over a period of time while others
may be forgotten.

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FACTORS AFFECTING LEARNING
Learning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by
this experience. The key elements or the major factors that affect learning are
motivation, practice, environment, and mental group.

Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors −

 Motivation − The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to

achieve a goal is known as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning
as it acts gives us a positive energy to complete a task. Example − The coach
motivated the players to win the match.

 Practice − We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a

perfectionist or at least complete the task, it is very important to practice what
we have learnt. Example − We can be a programmer only when we execute the
codes we have written.

 Environment − We learn from our surroundings, we learn from the people

around us. They are of two types of environment – internal and
external. Example − A child when at home learns from the family which is an
internal environment, but when sent to school it is an external environment.

 Mental group − It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to

hang out with. In simple words, we make a group of those people with whom we
connect. It can be for a social cause where people with the same mentality work
in the same direction. Example − A group of readers, travelers, etc.

These are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root level
for our behavior and everything we do is connected to what we learn.

LEARNING THEORIES

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Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our
behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are −

 Classical Conditioning Theory

 Operant Conditioning Theory

 Social Learning Theory

 Cognitive Learning Theory

1. Classical Conditioning Theory

The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an
unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus
like the sound of a tuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective
like the taste of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned
stimulus is an unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.

After this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur
after a single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the
conditioned stimulus, when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The
conditioned response is mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but unlike the
unconditioned response, it must be acquired through experience and is nearly
impermanent.

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2. Operant Conditioning Theory
Operant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is a
learning process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes.

Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to get the candy
inside, or learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison, the classical conditioning
develops a relationship between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be
further elaborated as the child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble
at the sight of an angry parent.

In the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of
these two sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior analysis.

33
3. Social Learning Theory
The key assumptions of social learning theory are as follows −

 Learning is not exactly behavioral; instead it is a cognitive process that takes

place in a social context.

 Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the outcomes of

the behavior (known as vicarious reinforcement).

 Learning includes observation, extraction of information from those observations,

and making decisions regarding the performance of the behavior (known as
observational learning or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond an
observable change in behavior.

 Reinforcement plays an important role in learning but is not completely

responsible for learning.

 The learner is not a passive receiver of information. Understanding,

environment, and behavior all mutually influence each other.

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4. Cognitive Learning Theory
Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding
about himself and environment.

This theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking on a problem or

situation based upon known facts and responding in an objective and more oriented
manner. It perceives that a person learns the meaning of various objects and events
and also learns the response depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli.

This theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which stores
organized information about the various events that occurs.

Learning & Organizational Behavior

An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by learning.

Example − Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned.

Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips −

 Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance.

35
 Improving employee discipline by dealing with employee’s undesirable behavior,
drinking at workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate actions
like oral reprimands, written warnings and suspension.

 Developing training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention,

provide required motivational properties etc.

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PERSONALITY

Personality is the combination of characteristics or qualities that forms a person’s

unique identity. Personality is the sum total of the ways in which an individual reacts to
and interacts with others. Personality appears to be a result of both the environmental
factors as well as hereditary factors and moderated by situational conditions. Every
individual has a unique, personal and major determinant of his behavior that defines
his/her personality.

Reasons for studying personality

• Applications to assessment
• Applications to prediction and selection
• Applications to change

Individual Differences

• Management of people would be much easier if everyone were the same

(Amstrong ,2000).
• But we all have different:
– Abilities, personalities, backgrounds & culture
– Gender, disability, race and needs.

In organizations individuals differ:

• Competencies-abilities and skills

– Constructs-the conceptual framework which governs how people
perceive their environment
– Expectations-what people have learned to expect about their own and
others’ behavior
– Values-what people believe to be important

PERSONALITY MODERATING FACTORS

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 • Heredity- factors that are determined at conception like physical stature, facial
appearance, gender, temperament, energy levels (personal traits)
• Environment - the culture in which we were raised, our early conditioning, the
norms among our family, friends and social groups, and other influences that we
experience. An individual’s full potential is determined by how well one adjust to
the environment.
• Situation – An individual’s personality changes in different situations, the
different demands of different situations call for different aspects of one’s
personality.
• Biographical Characteristics: These are biological characteristics like age,
gender and marital status that may impact on the employee’s performance.
• Tenure: The longer the person stays on the job, according to research, the less
likely he/ she is to leave. Tenure and job satisfaction are positively related.
• Abilities and learning : What one can do made up of intellectual and physical
abilities
• Parenting; from mothers and fathers, children tend to take in what they are
exposed to in their earlier years.
• Education and Job training; It is one way in which young people learn
knowledge and skills
• Manipulating of rewards; These are put in place to recognize employees for
their achievements but they are done with the mind that organizations and
society believe that people can learn and change their behavior.
• Factors that influence human behavior include; emotions, risk avoidance,
stereotyping, male competitiveness. Nature predisposes us to act and interact in
particular ways I particular circumstances.

MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES

Following are the five major personality attributes that influence OB −

1. Locus of Control
Locus of control is the center of control of an individual’s code of conduct. People can
be grouped into two categories i.e., internals and externals respectively.

38
People who consider themselves as the masters of their own fates are known as
internals, while, those who affirm that their lives are controlled by outside forces known
as externals.

Before making any decision, internals actively search for information, they are
achievement driven, and want to command their environment. Thus, internals do well
on jobs that craves complex information processing, taking initiative and independent
action.

Externals, on the other hand, are more compliant, more willing to follow instructions,
so, they do well in structured, routine jobs.

2. Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is being practical, emotionally distant, and believing that ends justify
means.

Machiavellians are always wanting to win and are great persuaders. Here are the
significant features of a high-mach individuals −

 High-Machs prefer precise interactions rather than beating about the bush.

 High-Machs tend to improvise; they do not necessarily abide by rules and

regulations all the time.

 High-Machs get distracted by emotional details that are irrelevant to the outcome
of a project.

3. Self-esteem
It is the extent up to which people either like or dislike themselves. Self-Esteem is
directly related to the expectations of success and on-the-job satisfaction.

Individuals with high self-esteem think that they have what it takes to succeed. So, they
take more challenges while selecting a job.

39
On the other hand, individuals with low self-esteem are more susceptible to external
distractions. So, they are more likely to seek the approval of others and to adapt the
beliefs and behaviors of those they respect.

4. Self-monitoring
Self-monitoring is the capability of regulating one’s behavior according to social
situations. Individuals with high self-monitoring skill easily adjust their behavior
according to external, situational factors. Their impulsive talents allow them to present
public personae which are completely different from their private personalities.

However, people with low self-monitoring skills cannot cover themselves. Regardless
of any situation, they are always themselves. They have an attitude of, “what you see
is what you get.”

5. Risk taking
Generally, managers are reluctant on taking risks. However, individual risk-taking
inclination affects the bulk of information required by the managers and how long it
takes them to make decisions.

Thus, it is very important to recognize these differences and align risk-taking propensity
with precise job demands that can make sense.

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

We have some theories that explain an individual’s personality.

1. Sigmund Freud’s - Psychoanalytic Theory

This theory is based on the belief that people are encouraged more by unforeseen
forces than the conscious and logical thought. Freud believed that most of the things in
life are not present at the conscious level but they are present at an unconscious level.

The features of Freud’s theory include three attributes − Id, Ego, and Superego.

40
  Id − It defines the innate component of personality. It is the impulsive and
unconscious part of mind that seeks immediate satisfaction. Example − A
hungry baby cries till he/she is fed.
 Ego − It is derived from Id and assists in dealing with the external world. It also
helps in translating the inner needs into expressions. It deals with practical and
rational thinking process. Example − We have a fight with our friend and expect
the friend to talk first, even though both of us want to talk.
 Superego − It is different from ego and is partially unconscious. It includes the
traditional values of society as interpreted by our parents. It also helps in the
integral vision of punishment. Example − Ram came late today so he is
grounded for a week.

2. Erikson’s Theory
This theory states that personality is groomed throughout lifetime. He presents eight
distinct stages each with two possible outcomes. Successful completion of each stage
leads to a healthy personality. These stages are −

 Infancy − It is the period between 0-1 years of age. In this stage, children learn
the ability to trust others depending on their caregivers. Unsuccessful
completion in this stage results in anxiety and insecurity. Example − Children of
this age are more comfortable with those faces they see more often and not with
strangers.
 Early Childhood − It is the period between 1-3 years of age. In this stage,
children learn to be independent. If given support, they become more confident
else they become dependent over others. Example − Children in this age are
taught how to walk, how to talk etc.
 Play Age − It is the period between 3-6 years of age. In this stage, children
assert themselves frequently. The failure leads to development of a sense of
guilt among them. Example − Children in this age group, need to be taught how
to behave and should be taught to be focused.
 School Age − It is the period between 6 years of age till puberty. In this stage,
children become more innovative. They feel confident and want to achieve their

41
 goals. If not encouraged they may feel inferior. Example − Teenagers should be
protected and parents need to understand them and should handle them
patiently.
 Adolescence − This stage is a transformation from childhood to adulthood. Here
children find their own identity and should be guided and supported in order to
help them choose the right direction. Example − Decision such as which stream
to choose science or commerce etc. happens during this stage.
 Early Childhood − This stage is also known as young adulthood. Here, they
begin to open up and become more intimate with others. Example − Making
close friends.
 Adulthood − In this stage, they focus on establishing career and settling down
with relationships that are important. Example − Applying for jobs.
 Mature Adulthood − In this stage, a person is old and thus in this stage the
productivity slows down. Example− Taking care of the family.

3. Sheldon’s Physiognomy Theory

This theory was proposed by William Sheldon. He presents personalities by classifying
individuals into convenient categories based on their body shapes. They are −

 Endomorphs

 Mesomorphs

 Ectomorphs

Endomorphs
In this category, the body is soft and spherical. People with this kind of personality love
comfort, eat a lot, like to be around people and desire affection. Some common
endomorph features are large amount of fat accumulation, insatiable appetite, larger
frame etc.

Some endomorph personalities are John Goodman, Jack Black etc.

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Mesomorphs
In this category, the body is hard and rectangular physique. People with this kind of
personality like to take risk, are courageous and have power. Some common
mesomorph features are wide shoulders, small waist, low body fat.

Some mesomorph personalities are Jennifer Garner, Tina Turner etc.

Ectomorphs
In this category, the body is fragile, flat chest and delicate body. People with this kind
of personality are anxious, ambitious and dedicated. Some common ectomorph
features are narrow frame, low body fat, etc.

Some notable ectomorph personalities are Brad Pitt, Bruce Lee etc.

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PERCEPTION AND ATTRIBUTES

People’s perceptions and attributions influence how they behave in their organization.
Perception describes the way people filter, organize and interpret sensory information.
Attribution explains how people act, determining how people react to the actions of
others as well. Accurate perception allows employees to interpret what they see and
hear in the workplace effectively to make decisions, complete tasks and act in ethical
manner. Faulty perceptions lead to problems in the organization, such as stereotyping,
that lead people to erroneously make assumptions. Perception is an intellectual
process of transforming sensory stimuli to meaningful information. It is the process of
interpreting something that we see or hear in our mind and use it later to judge and
give a verdict on a situation, person, group etc.

It can be divided into six types −

 Of sound − The ability to receive sound by identifying vibrations.

 Of speech − The competence of interpreting and understanding the sounds of
language heard.
 Touch − Identifying objects through patterns of its surface by touching it.
 Taste − The ability to receive flavor of substances by tasting it through sensory
organs known as taste buds.
 Other senses − They approve perception through body, like balance,
acceleration, pain, time, sensation felt in throat and lungs etc.
 Of the social world − It permits people to understand other individuals and
groups of their social world.Example − Priya goes to a restaurant and likes their
customer service, so she will perceive that it is a good place to hang out and will
recommend it to her friends, who may or may not like it. Priya’s perception about
the restaurant is good.

Perceptual Process
Perceptual process are the different stages of perception we go through. The different
stages are −

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  Receiving

 Selecting

 Organizing

 Interpreting

Receiving
Receiving is the first and most important stage in the process of perception. It is the
initial stage in which a person collects all information and receives the information
through the sense organs.

Selecting
Selecting is the second stage in the process. Here a person doesn’t receive the data
randomly but selectively. A person selects some information out of all in accordance
with his interest or needs. The selection of data is dominated by various external and
internal factors.

 External factors − The factors that influence the perception of an individual

externally are intensity, size, contrast, movement, repetition, familiarity, and
novelty.
 Internal factors − The factors that influence the perception of an individual
internally are psychological requirements, learning, background, experience,
self-acceptance, and interest.

Organizing
Keeping things in order or say in a synchronized way is organizing. In order to make
sense of the data received, it is important to organize them.

We can organize the data by −

 Grouping them on the basis of their similarity, proximity, closure, continuity.

 Establishing a figure ground is the basic process in perception. Here by figure
we mean what is kept as main focus and by ground we mean background
stimuli, which are not given attention.

45
  Perceptual constancy that is the tendency to stabilize perception so that
contextual changes don’t affect them.

Interpreting
Finally, we have the process of interpreting which means forming an idea about a
particular object depending upon the need or interest. Interpretation means that the
information we have sensed and organized, is finally given a meaning by turning it into
something that can be categorized. It includes stereotyping, halo effect etc.

Importance of Perception in OB
We need to understand what the role of perception in an organization is. It is very
important in establishing different role of perceptions like −

 Understanding the tasks to be performed.

 Understanding associated importance of tasks allotted.

 Understanding preferred behavior to complete respective tasks.

 Clarifying role perceptions.

For example, every member in a group has to be clear regarding the role allotted to
them. Programmer writes the code, tester checks it, etc.

HANDLING ATTRIBUTION

People commonly attribute success to skill, luck or chance. People tend to react to
situations based on what they think caused the event. Just as perceptions can be faulty,
attributions can be inaccurate as well. Organizations can ensure people attribute actions
more effectively by providing diversity training. This helps prevent a hostile work
environment for people from different cultures. By training people to make more
accurate attributions, daily operations run more smoothly. This helps reduce faulty
attributions, such as managers who attribute exceptional performance to chance as they
resist assigning more challenging work to qualified individuals they view as lucky.

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47
ATTITUDES & VALUES

Attitude is a hypothetical construct which cannot be directly observed – inferred from

what people say and do. Attitude objects are concrete, abstract, about people, groups of
people and inanimate objects. Behaviour towards objects is dependent upon attitude
towards them. Attitudes tend to persist unless something is done to change them.
Attitudes can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favourable to very
unfavourable. They reflect how one feels about something. In organizations, attitudes
are both positive and negative evaluations that employees hold about aspects of their
work environment, affecting job behavior. Attitudes are directed towards some object
about which a person has feelings or affect and beliefs.

THREE COMPONENTS OF ATTITUDE

1. Cognitive Component – The opinion or belief segment of an attitude.

2. Affective Component – The emotional or feeling segment of an attitude.
3. Behavioral Component – An intention to behave in a certain way towards
someone or something.

Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance: Any incompatibility between two or more attitudes

or between behavior and attitudes. People’s attitudes or beliefs can be consonant (in
line), dissonant (at odds), or not related to each other, If dissonant, we experience
psychological discomfort. Individuals seek to reduce this uncomfortable gap, or
dissonance, to reach stability and consistency. Consistency is achieved by changing the
attitudes, modifying the behaviors, or through rationalization.

Desire to reduce dissonance depends on:

Importance of elements

Degree of individual influence

Rewards involved in dissonance

ATTITUDE MODERATING VARIABLES

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The most powerful moderators of the attitude behavior relationship are:

Importance of the attitude Correspondence to behavior

 Accessibility

 Existence of social pressures

 Personal and direct experience of the attitude

CHANGING ATTITUDES

Barriers to changing attitudes:

 Prior commitment
 Insufficient information

Methods to overcome barriers and change attitudes:

 Providing new information

 Use of fear
 Resolving Discrepancies
 Influence of friends and peers
 The co-opting approach

WHAT ARE THE MAJOR JOB ATTITUDES? (Types of attitudes)

 Job Satisfaction; A positive feeling about the job resulting from an evaluation of
its characteristics.
 Job Involvement; Degree of psychological identification with the job where
perceived performance is important to self-worth.
 Psychological Empowerment; Belief in the degree of influence over the job,
competence, job meaningfulness, and autonomy.
 Organizational Commitment  Identifying with a particular organization and its
goals, while wishing to maintain membership in the organization.  Three
dimensions:  Affective – emotional attachment to organization  Continuance

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 Commitment – economic value of staying  Normative - moral or ethical
obligations  Has some relation to performance, especially for new employees.
 Less important now than in past – now perhaps more of occupational
commitment, loyalty to 12 profession rather than a given employer.
 Perceived Organizational Support (POS)  Degree to which employees believe
the organization values their contribution and cares about their well-being. Higher
when rewards are fair, employees are involved in decision-making, and
supervisors are seen as supportive.  High POS is related to higher OCBs and
performance.
 Employee Engagement; The degree of involvement with, satisfaction with, and
enthusiasm for the job.  Engaged employees are passionate about their work
and company.

CONSEQUENCES OF JOB SATISFACTION

 Job Performance; Satisfied workers are more productive AND more productive
workers are more satisfied! The causality may run both ways.
 Organizational Citizenship Behaviors; Satisfaction influences OCB through
perceptions of fairness.
 Customer Satisfaction; Satisfied frontline employees increase customer
satisfaction and loyalty.
 Absenteeism; Satisfied employees are moderately less likely14 to miss work.
 Turnover; Satisfied employees are less likely to quit. Many moderating
variables in this relationship.  Economic environment and tenure 
Organizational actions taken to retain high performers and to weed out lower
performers
 Workplace Deviance; Dissatisfied workers are more likely to unionize, abuse
substances, steal, be tardy, and withdraw.

Despite the overwhelming evidence of the impact of job satisfaction on the bottom line,
most managers are either unconcerned about or overestimate worker satisfaction.

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VALUES

Basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or endstate of conduct or end-state of

existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of
conduct or end-state of existence.

 Characteristics of Values:
 Content Attribute – that the mode of conduct or endstate is important
 Intensity Attribute – just how important that content is.
 Value System
 A person’s values rank ordered by intensity
 Tends to be relatively constant and consistent

IMPORTANCE OF VALUES

 Provide understanding of the attitudes, motivation, and behaviors

 Influence our perception of the world around us
 Represent interpretations of “right” and “wrong”
 Imply that some behaviors or outcomes are preferred over others Organizational
Behavior

CLASSIFYING VALUES – ROKEACH VALUE SURVEY

1. Terminal Values; Desirable end-states of existence; the goals that a person

would like to achieve during his or her lifetime
2. Instrumental Values; Preferable modes of behavior or means of achieving one’s
terminal values
3. People in same occupations or categories tend to hold similar values; but values
vary between groups however, Value differences make it difficult for groups to
negotiate and may create conflict

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VALUES: Values differ across cultures

HOFSTEDE’S FRAMEWORK for assessing culture

1. Power Distance: The extent to which a society accepts that power in institutions and
organizations is distributed unequally.  Low distance  Relatively equal power
between those with status/wealth and those without status/wealth  High distance 
Extremely unequal power distribution between those with status/wealth and those
without status/wealth
2. Individualism vs. Collectivism: individualism refers to The degree to which people
prefer to act as individuals rather than a member of groups on the other hand
Collectivism; A tight social framework in which people expect others in groups of
which they are a part to look after them and protect them.
3. Masculinity vs. Femininity; Masculinity  The extent to which the society values work
roles of achievement, power, and control, and where assertiveness and materialism
are also valued Femininity  The extent to which there is little differentiation
between roles for men and women.
4. Uncertainty Avoidance; The extent to which a society feels threatened by uncertain
and ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them  High Uncertainty Avoidance:
Society does not like ambiguous situations and tries to avoid them.  Low
Uncertainty Avoidance: Society does not mind ambiguous situations and embraces
them.
5. Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation Long-term Orientation  A national culture
attribute that emphasizes the future, thrift, and persistence Short-term Orientation 
A national culture attribute that emphasizes the present and the here and now.

Hofstede’s Framework an Assessment

 There are regional differences within countries;

 The original data is old and based on only one company

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 Hofstede had to make many judgment calls while doing the research
 Some results don’t match what is believed to be true about given countries.
 Despite these problems it remains a very popular framework

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Attitudes and Job Satisfaction

• Attitudes are evaluative statements – either favourable or unfavourable,

concerning objects, people or events.

• They reflect how one feels about something.

• In organizations, attitudes are both positive and negative evaluations that

employees hold about aspects of their work environment, affecting job behavior.

Types of attitudes

• Job satisfaction:

– An individual’s general attitude towards his or her job.

• Job involvement:

– Measures the degree to which an individual identifies psychologically with

his or her job.

• Organisational commitment:

– The state in which an employee identifies with a particular organization

and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the organization.

Job satisfaction and its effect on employee performance

• Increased employee productivity

• Reduced absenteeism

• Reduced turnover rates

• Increased customer satisfaction

How can managers increase employee job satisfaction?

• Providing mentally challenging work;

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 – People prefer jobs with characteristics making work more challenging
enabling them use their skills, abilities , offering a variety of tasks, freedom
and feedback on how well they are doing.

• Giving equitable rewards;

– Pay systems and promotion al policies perceive d as just, unambiguous

and in line with their expectations. When pay is seen as fair based on job
demands, individual skill level, and community pay standards, satisfaction
is likely to result.

• Supportive work conditions;

– Working environment offering personal comfort and facilitating health

working.

• Supportive colleagues;

– People get more out of work than merely money or tangible achievements.
For most employees, work also fills the need for social interaction.

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MOTIVATION

Motivation can be described as the internal force that impacts the direction, intensity,
and endurance of a person’s voluntary choice of behavior. It consists of −

 Direction − focused by goals.

 Intensity − bulk of effort allocated.
 Persistence − amount of time taken for the effort to be exerted.

Example − A team leader encourages team members to work efficiently.

Features of Motivation
Motivation is an internal feeling, that is, it defines the psychological state of a person. It
is a continuous process and we should make sure that it is not disturbed. A person
should be encouraged completely.

Motivation consists of three interacting and dependent elements −

 Needs − The requirements or deficiency which is created whenever there is

physiological imbalance.
 Drives − The various camps or events organized to motivate the employees and
give them new opportunities.
 Incentives − Employees need to be rewarded for their nice work in order to
keep them encouraged.

Importance of Motivation
We need to motivate employees because of the following reasons −

 Motivated employee are more quality oriented.

 Highly motivated employees are more productive as compared to other

employees.

 It helps in achieving three behavior dimension of human resource namely

o Candidates must be attracted not only to join but also remain in the firm.

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 o Employees must perform task in a dependable manner.

o Employees should be creative, spontaneous and innovative at work.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

This theory was produced in order to answer the question “What motivates an
individual”. Every second need comes to force when the first need is satisfied
completely. Maslow explained the hierarchy of needs by grouping them into two:
deficiency needs and growth needs.

Physiological Needs
Every individual needs to take care of the basic requirements required to sustain.
These requirements include food to eat, clothing to wear and shelter to live in. These
necessities are relatively independent of each other but are finite.

Safety Needs
Everybody wants to stay in a protected environment with minimal danger so that they
can have a peaceful life. Safety needs basically includes protection from physiological

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danger like accident and having economic security like bank accounts, health
insurance

In an enterprise, it includes job security, salary increment, etc. The managerial practice
to satisfy this involves offering pension scheme, provident fund, gratuity etc.

Social Needs
We have all heard that man is a social animal, we want to be there with those people
where we are loved and we are accepted as we are; nobody wants to be judged. This
is a common requirement every human desires.

This theory helps managers to think about encouraging their employees by identifying
employee needs. In short, it presents motivation as constantly changing force,
expressing itself to the constant need for fulfilment of new and higher levels of needs.

Esteem
Esteem means the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People
often involve in a profession or hobby to gain recognition, earn fame and respect.
According to Maslow, the needs of humans have strict guidelines - the hierarchies
rather than being sharply separated, are interrelated. This means that esteem and the
consequent levels are not strictly separated but are closely related.

Self-Actualization
Self-actualization means realizing one’s full potential. Maslow describes this as a
desire to complete everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.

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GROUP DYNAMICS

A group can be defined as two or more interacting and interdependent individuals who
come together to achieve particular objectives. A group behavior can be stated as a
course of action a group takes as a family.

Types of Groups
1. Formal Groups
These are the type of work groups created by the organization and have designated
work assignments and rooted tasks. The behavior of such groups is directed toward
achieving organizational goals.

These can be further classified into two sub-groups −

 Command group − It is a group consisting of individuals who report directly to

the manager.
 Interest group − It is a group formed by individuals working together to achieve
a specific objective. Example− A group of workers working on a project and
reporting to the same manager is considered as a command group. A group of
friends chilling out together is considered as interest group or say members of a
club.

2. Informal Groups
These groups are formed with friendships and common interests. These can be further
classified into two sub-groups −

 Membership group: Membership groups are the groups of individuals' belonging

to the same profession and knowing each other. For example, teachers of the
same faculty in a university.
 Friendship group: Friendship groups are the groups of individuals belonging to
same age group, having similar views, tastes and opinions. These groups can
also be formed outside the plant or office and can be in the form of clubs and
associations.

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  Reference group: Reference groups are the group where individuals shape their
ideas, beliefs, values etc. They want support from the group.

3. Task group

Tasks groups are the groups formed by an organization to accomplish a narrow range
of purposes within a specified time. These groups are temporary in nature. They also
develop a solution to a problem or complete its purpose. Informal committees, task
forces and work teams are included in task groups. The organization after specifying a
group membership, assigns a narrow set of purposes such as developing a new
product, evaluating a proposed grievance procedure, etc.

Reasons why People Join Groups

There is no particular reason answering why individuals join groups. Group helps
individual to feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and be more contrary to threats.

The following points help us understand the need of joining a group by individuals −

 Security mirrors strength in numbers. Status pinpoints a prestige that comes

from belonging to a specific group. Inclusion in a group is considered as
important because it provides recognition and status.
 Self-esteem transmits people's feelings of self-worth. Membership can
sometimes raise feelings of self-esteem like being accepted into a highly valued
group.
 Affiliation with groups can meet one's social needs. Work groups
significantly contribute to meet the need for friendships and social relations.
 Groups represent power. What mostly cannot be achieved individually
becomes possible with group effort. Power might be aimed to protect
themselves from unreasonable demands. Informal groups provide options for
individuals to practice power.
 People may join a group for goal achievement. Sometimes it takes more than
one person to accomplish a particular task.

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  Organizational motives to join groups: Organizations form functional and task
groups because such groups help the organization in structuring and grouping
the organizational activities logically and efficiently.
 Interpersonal attraction: Individuals conic together to form informal or interest
group, as they are also attracted to each other. The factors that contribute to
interpersonal attraction are sex, similar attitudes, personality and economic
standing. The closeness of group members may also be an important factor.
 Support for group goals: The individuals may also be motivated by the other
group members to join. For example, a club, which is dedicated to environmental
conservation, may motivate individuals to join. Individuals join groups, such as
these in order to donate their money and time to attain the goals they believe in
and to meet other individuals with similar values.

Group Roles
The concept of roles is applicable to all employees within an organization as well as to
their life outside the organization. A role is a set of expected behavior patterns
attributed to the one who occupies the position demanded by the social unit.

Individuals play multiple roles at the same time. Employees attempt to understand what
kind of behavior is expected from them. An individual when presented by divergent role
expectations experiences role conflict. Group roles are divided into three types −

 Task-oriented Roles

 Relationship-oriented Roles

 Individual Roles

1. Task-oriented Roles
Roles allotted to individuals according to their work and eligibility is known as task-
oriented roles. Task-oriented roles can broadly divide individuals into six categories
initiator, informer, clarifier, summarizer, reality tester and information seekers or
providers respectively.

 Initiator − The one who proposes, suggests, defines.

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  Informer − The one who offers facts, expresses feelings, gives opinions.
 Clarifier − The one who interprets, defines, clarifies everything.
 Summarizer − The one who links, restates, concludes, summarizes.
 Reality Tester − The one who provides critical analysis.
 Information seekers or providers − The one who gives information and data.

These roles present the work performed by different individuals according to their
marked designation.

2. Relationship-oriented Roles
Roles that group individuals according to their efforts made to maintain healthy
relationship in the group and achieve the goals are known as relationship-oriented
roles. There are five categories of individuals in this category namely: harmonizer,
gatekeeper, consensus tester, encourager, and compromiser.

 Harmonizers − The one who limits tension and reconciles disagreements.

 Gatekeeper − The one who ensures participation by all.
 Consensus Tester − The one who analyzes the decision-making process.
 Encourager − The one who is warm, responsive, active, shows acceptance.
 Compromiser − The one who admits error, limits conflict.

These roles depict the various roles an individual plays to maintain healthy self as well
as group relationships.

3. Individual Roles
Roles that classify a person according to the measure of individual effort put in the
project aimed is known as individual roles. Five types of individuals fall into these roles:
aggressor, blocker, dominator, cavalier, and avoidance.

 Aggressor − The one who devalues others, attacks ideas.

 Blocker − The one who disagrees and rebels beyond reason.
 Dominator − The one who insists superiority to manipulate.
 Cavalier − The one who takes part in a group non-productively.

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  Avoidance − The one who shows special interest to avoid task.

Well-Functioning Groups
We know what a group is, why it is important to form a group, and what the group-
oriented roles are. Now we need to know how to mark a group as a well-functioning
group, what features are necessary for a group to mark it as efficient.

A group is considered effective when it has the following characteristics.

 Relaxed, comfortable, friendly atmosphere.

 Task to be executed are well understood and accepted.

 Members listen well and actively participate in given assignments.

 Assignments are made clear and are accepted.

 Group is acquainted of its operation and function.

 People express their feelings and ideas openly.

 Consensus decision-making process is followed.

 Conflict and disagreement center regarding ideas or method.

GROUP FORMATION STAGES AND DEVELOPMENT

1. Mutual Acceptance (forming)

• Making Acceptance
• Sharing Acquaintances
• Discussing Subjects
• Testing Each Other
• Being Defensive

The very first stage of a group development is called "Mutual Acceptance (forming)".
This stage is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose,
structure, and leadership. the members of the group get familiar with one another and

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check, which inter-personal behavior is acceptable and which is unacceptable by the
other members of the group. This helps all the members of a group to know each other
better.

2. Communication and Decision-Making (storming)

 Expressing Attitudes
 Establishing Norms
 Establishing Goals
 Openly Discussing Tasks
 Being Defensive

The second stage of group development is "Communication and Decision-making

(storming)''. During this stage, there is intra-group conflict, members accept the
existence of the group, but there is resistance to the constraints that the group imposes
on individuality group members share their opinions and formulate the group's goals.
Through communication and decision-making, the structure becomes clear and the
group moves to the third stage.

3. Motivation and Productivity (norming)

• Cooperating
• Working Actively on Tasks
• Being Creative

The third stage is "Motivation and Productivity", which is characterized by a shared

acceptance among members of what the group is trying to do. It is in this stage where
close relationships develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness. There is now a
strong sense of group identity. This stage is complete when the group structure
solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines
correct member behavior. Each person recognizes and accepts his role as well as to
accept and to understand the roles to others. Members also become more comfortable
with each other and develop a sense of group identity and unity.

4. Control and Organization (performing)

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 • Working Independently
• Assigning Tasks Based on Ability
• Being Flexible

The fourth stage is "Control and Organization", in which the members perform the roles
they have accepted and direct their group efforts toward goal attainment. The structure
at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to
know and understand each other to performing the task at hand. For permanent work
groups, performing is the last stage in their development.

5. Adjourning

There is an adjourning stage. In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment. High
task performance is no longer the group’s top priority. Instead, 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 companionship and friendships gained during the work group’s life.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FORMAL GROUPS

1. Structure and Status Hierarchy

Group members possess different characteristics or attributes which give them a

position in the group. Every group member occupies a position — whether low or high.
A member’s position will be determined by factors such as individual aggressiveness,
(status), and power, influence— which they hold in the organization or in a society.

Consciously or unconsciously group members evaluate each other and create a kind of
hierarchy in the group. In the2a1 groups it depends on issues and activities of the
group. For example, in a criminal group – daring in academic group – intelligence in a
sporting group - natural talent etc

2. Roles

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These include expected roles, perceived roles and enacted roles.

Expected Roles; in the formal group are the job description roles which are known to the
person occupying a certain position and all the other group members.

The Perceived Roles; these are the set of behaviors and performances a person
occupying a position believes he/she should engage in.

Enacted Roles; these are the set of behaviors that the individual actually engages in.
enacted roles are nearly the same as perceived roles. Differences and conflicts will
occur when the three role behaviors differ. If for example, enacted roles differ
significantly from the expected roles the person may face severe sanctions including
separation from the group.

3. Norms

These are the “agreed-upon” rules/laws or standards of individual and group behavior
developed as a result of members interacting over a time. They are the written
rules/laws.

Characteristics of Norms

(a) Norms are normally not written. In most cases norms are either verbally
communicated or even not stated in any way but are somehow known by group
members.

(b) Norms are accepted to varying extents by group members. Some norms are
accepted totally, and others only partially.

(c) Some norms may apply to all group members or to only some group members.

(d) Some norms are positive and others are negative.

4. Leadership

In the formal group, the leader exercises legitimate authority - ]j1eI to reward or punish
group members. In the informal group, the leader emerges because he/she enjoys fairly

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high status. In informal groups permanent leaders are rare. Members keep yearning to
have someone to follow.

5. Cohesiveness

Describes the strength of group members’ desire to remain in the group and their
commitment to the group. Cohesiveness is a force pulling members together and
working against the every pressure forces that are pulling members away from each
other and from the group. Highly cohesive groups have a high motivation to be together.
In the work context, highly cohesive groups are not always productive because of the
developing group members of the problems of.

IMPROVING GROUP PERFORMANCE

• Setting super-ordinate goals

• Smoothing - emphasizing common interests and down playing differences
• Altering structural variables
• Authoritative command - may be effective only in the short run.
• Provision of adequate resources
• Compromise - mutual consensus - may not be possible at times.
• Altering human variables - changing behaviour and attitudes of those involved. Long
term results.

GROUP DECISION-MAKING TECHNIQUES

Decision making is the process of making a choice among possible alternative courses
of actions. Much of what managers and supervisors do is solve problems and make
decisions. New managers and supervisors, in particular, often solve problems and make
decisions by reacting to them. They are "under the gun", stressed and very short of
time. Consequently, when they encounter a new problem or decision they must make,
they react with a decision that seemed to have worked before.

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1. Interacting groups: members meet in a free atmosphere and randomly contribute
towards a problem at hand in a face to face session.
2. Brainstorming: in this session group members make suggestions to the problem
regardless of their likelihood to be implemented. It is an idea-generation process that
specifically encourages all alternatives, while withholding any criticism of those
alternatives. It is meant to overcome pressures for conformity in the interacting
group that retard the development of creative alternatives. It does this by utilizing an
idea-generation process that specifically encourages any and all alternatives, while
withholding any criticism of those alternatives
3. Nominal group technique: A group decision-making method in which individual
members meet face-to-face to pool their judgments in a systematic but independent
fashion. The nominal group technique restricts discussion or interpersonal
communication during the decision-making process, hence, the term nominal. Group
members are all physically presen, but members operate independently.
4. Delphi group technique: a group of experts express their views regarding a problem
but they don’t meet in a face to face session

Potential Advantages and Disadvantages of Group Decision Making

• More information, expertise, and viewpoints are available to help solve problems.
• More alternatives More alternatives are generated and considered during
decision making.
• Increased understanding There is increased understanding and greater
acceptance of decision by group members.
• Greater commitment There is increased commitment of group members to work
hard and support the decision.

Why group decisions can be bad

• Conformity with social pressures Some members feel intimidated by others and
give in to social pressures to conform.

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 • Domination by a few members A minority dominates; some members get
railroaded by small coalition of others.
• Time delays More time is required to make decisions when many people try to
work together.
• A crisis is an unexpected problem that can lead to disaster if not resolved quickly
and appropriately.

Decision environments

1. Certain Environment: Offers complete information on possible actions, alternatives

and their consequences.
2. Risk Environment: Lacks complete (adequate) information but offers probabilities
of the likely outcomes for possible action alternatives.
3. Uncertain Environment: Lacks so much information that it is difficult to assign
probabilities to the likely outcomes of alternatives.

Types of Decisions

• Programmed Decision: Applies a solution from past experience to a routine

problem.
• Non-programmed Decision: Applies to a specific solution crafted (designed) for a
unique problem.

Approaches to Problem Solving and Decision Making

When confronted with a problem, people are likely to adopt either of the following
approaches - Stop it or Mop it.

 A stop-it approach seeks to solve a problem, so that the problem no longer exists.
Its three forms are prevention, elimination, and reduction.
 A mop-it approach focuses on the effects of a problem instead of treating the
problem. The mop it approach either; treats it, tolerates it or redirects it.

TEAMS IN ORGANISATIONS

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A team is a group whose members work intensively with each other to achieve a
specific common goal or objective.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A GROUP AND A TEAM

GROUP TEAM
• May not have a common goal or  Always has a common goal or objective
objective  Always has a distinct leader
• May not have a distinct leader  Is always formed decisively (formally
• May be formed from an impromptu formed)
• setting (may be informally formed)  Lifetime is usually medium-term
• Lifetime may be very short-term  There is always relational interaction
• May not necessarily be relational (team
(people members know each other)
• may not know each other)  Always a certain degree of
• May not necessarily be cohesive cohesiveness
• Members may not be committed to  Members are most times committed to
achieving the group’s goals achieving the group’s goals
• Group leader may not necessarily  Team leader is appointed following set
be appointed following set criteria criteria
(may arise situationally)  Each member has a distinct role to play
• Not all members have a role to play in
in the group the team
• Not necessarily organised or  Almost always organised or coordinated
coordinated  Each member is held accountable for
• Members are not necessarily their
accountable for their actions actions
• Dissolution of the group may be  Dissolution of a team normally follows
adhoc certain procedures

TYPES/CATEGORIES OF TEAMS

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1. Problem-solving teams

These are teams of short time duration aimed at addressing a specific problem or
usually from the same department, after the issue/problem is over, the team is
disbanded. Groups of 5- 12 employees from the same department who meet for a few
hours each week to discuss ways of improving quality, efficiency, and the work
environment. In problem-solving teams, members share ideas or offer suggestions on
how work processes and methods can be improved

2. Cross-functional teams

This is the typical team in the organization composed of members from different
departments who work on a task on project basis. The nature and impact of the problem
at hand cuts across different parts of the organization. For example, to set up another
campus, start higher degree programmes,

These are teams made up of employees from about the same hierarchical level, but
from different work areas, who come together to accomplish a task. Many organizations
have used horizontal, boundary-spanning groups for years. E.g. task forces, committees

Features of Operations

• Need not have an established chairman. The team itself may decide to fill in the
chairman or the responsibility.

• Individuals who are open-minded and who have longer term insight should be
selected.

• The members should also be people who are not afraid of confrontation and change.

Problems

(i) Take a long to select and set up than problem-solving teams

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(ii) Compared to problem-solving teams they are characterized by initial feelings of
mistrust between members.

3. Self-directed work teams

A recent type of team operation that is quickly gaining popularity; they are composed of
ordinary workers who beside their normal work, team up to make the following decisions
for their section:

• They themselves select the individuals to serve on the team

• Determine the work to be performed e.g. output for the week

• Choose the approach and procedures to be adopted in the performance of their work

• The allocation of resources available in the section

• help one another

Self-directed work teams are not appropriate for every organization. They are a fairly
advanced form of organization.

Problem-solving teams were on the right track but they didn’t go far enough in getting
employees involved in work-related decisions and processes. This led to
experimentations with truly autonomous teams that could not only solve problems but
implement solutions and take full responsibility for outcomes.

Typically, this includes planning and scheduling of work, collective control over the pace
of work, making operating decisions, and taking action on problems. Fully self-managed
work teams even select their own members and have the members evaluate each
other’s performance.

REQUIREMENTS FOR TEAM EFFECTIVENESS

For teams to achieve the purpose they are set up for, they must be given support by
management including:

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• Top level commitment

• Management — employee trust

• Willingness to take risks

• Commitment to training

a) Top Level Management

Top leaders in the organization need to demonstrate their belief about the necessity of
teams by offering the following:

• Attention and recognition so as to enhance the confidence of team members

• Clear understanding of the organizational goals and objectives that each team is to
help accomplish

• Adequate and prompt access to financial and other resources that support activities in
the team.

b) Management- Employee Trust

Trust needs to be built at two levels: between management and team members and
among the team members themselves.

Members must believe in the integrity, behavior and abilities of each other. If team
members believe that management has trust in the group, the trust within group
members themselves is enhanced.

Managers need to be aware that trust is difficult to build but can be ruined by a single
real or perceived mistake.

c) Willingness to Take Risks

Teams and team approach are relatively new management practices (and style).
Therefore, the approach is still regarded by managers as a change and change is

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associated with risks. Managers and team members must accept the change and the
risks that accompany it as new practice.

To reduce on the risks associated with the change, members must have all information
they can.

d) Commitment to Training

The team approach implies more self direction and self-management because of the
disappearance of the chain structure where this happens. The team approach also
requires individual to lose in terms of personal privileges and gain in terms of group’s
well-being. Therefore, training is essential for members to appreciate the required
attitudes and behaviors of the team work style.

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DECISSION MAKING

Group decision-making commonly known as collaborative decision-making is a

situation faced when individuals collectively make a choice from the alternatives before
them.

The decision is then no longer attributable to any individual group member as all the
individuals and social group processes like social influence contribute to the decision
outcome.

The decisions made by groups are mostly different from those made by individuals. For
example, groups tend to make decisions that are more extreme than those made by
individual members, as individuals tend to be biased.

Advantages of Group Decision Making

Group decision making has two advantages over individual decision making.

Synergy
It is the idea that the whole is greater than the aggregate of its parts. When a group
makes a decision collectively, its judgment can be powerful than that of any of its
members. Through discussing, questioning, and collaborative approach, group
members can identify more complete and robust solutions and recommendations.

Sharing of information
Group decisions take into account a wider scope of information as each group member
may contribute distinct information and expertise. Sharing information increases
understanding, clarifies issues, and facilitates movement towards a collective decision.

Disadvantages of Group Decision Making

The major disadvantages of group decision making are as follows −

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Diffusion of Responsibility
Group decision making results in distribution of responsibility that results in lack of
accountability for outcomes. In this way, everyone is responsible for a decision, and no
one really is. Moreover, group decisions can make it easier for members to refuse
personal responsibilities and blame others for bad decisions.

Lower Efficiency
Group decisions can sometimes be less efficient than individual decisions. It takes
additional time because there is a need of active participation, discussion, and
coordination among group members. Without good facilitation and structure, meetings
can get eliminated in trivial details that may matter a lot to one person but not to the
others.

Groupthink
One of the biggest disadvantage of effective group decision making is groupthink. It is
a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the wish for
harmony or conformity results in an illogical or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

By refraining themselves from outside influences and actively suppressing opposing

viewpoints in the interest of minimizing conflict, group members reach a consensus
decision without critical evaluation of substitute viewpoints.

Groupthink sometimes produces dehumanizing actions against the out-group.

Group Decision-Making Techniques

In order to eliminate group think and group shift from a group, we can use four different
techniques that will help us make a collaborative decision that is best for the group.
These techniques are −

 Brainstorming

 Nominal group thinking

 Didactic technique

 Delphi technique
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Brainstorming
This technique includes a group of people, mostly between five and ten in number,
sitting around a table, producing ideas in the form of free association. The main focus
is on generation of ideas and not on evaluation of these ideas.

If more ideas can be originated, then it is likely that there will be a unique and creative
idea among them. All these ideas are written on the blackboard with a piece of chalk so
that all the team members can see every idea and try to improvise these ideas.

Brainstorming technique is very effective when the problem is comparatively precise

and can be simply defined. A complex problem can be divided into parts and each part
can be dealt with separately at a time.

Nominal Group Thinking

This technique is similar to brainstorming except that this approach is more structured.
It motivates individual creativity. Members form the group for namesake and operate
independently, originate ideas for solving the problem on their own, in silence and in
writing. Members do not communicate well with each other so that strong personality
domination is evaded.

The group coordinator either collects the written ideas or writes them on a large
blackboard so that each member of the group can see what the ideas are. These ideas
are further discussed one by one in turn and each participant is motivated to comment
on these ideas in order to clarify and improve them. After all these ideas have been
discussed, they are evaluated for their merits and drawbacks and each actively
participating member is needed to vote on each idea and allot it a rank on the basis of
priority of each alternative solution.

The idea with the highest cumulative ranking is selected as the final solution to the
problem.

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Didactic Interaction
This technique is applicable only in certain situations, but is an excellent method when
a situation actually demands it. The type of problem should be such that it generates
output in the form of yes or no. Say for example, a decision is to be made whether to
buy or not to buy a product, to merge or not to merge, to expand or not to expand and
so on. These types of decision requires an extensive and exhaustive discussion and
investigation since a wrong decision can have serious consequences.

There are many advantages as well as disadvantages of this type of situation. The
group that makes the decision is divided into two sub-groups, one in favor of the “go”
decision and the opposing in favor of “no go” decision.

The first group enlists all the “pros” of the problem solution and the second group lists
all the “cons”. These groups meet and discuss their discoveries and their reasons.

After tiring discussions, the groups switch sides and try to find weaknesses in their own
original standpoints. This interchange of ideas and understanding of various viewpoints
results in mutual acceptance of the facts as they exist so that a solution can be put
together around these facts and ultimately a final decision is reached.

Delphi Technique
This technique is the improvised version of the nominal group technique, except that it
involves obtaining the opinions of experts physically distant from each other and
unknown to each other.

This isolates group members from the undue influence of others. Basically, the types of
problems sorted by this technique are not specific in nature or related to a particular
situation at a given time.

For example, the technique could be used to explain the problems that could be
created in the event of a war. The Delphi technique includes the following steps −

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 The problem is first identified and a panel of experts are selected. These experts
are asked to provide potential solutions through a series of thoughtfully
designed questionnaires.
 Each expert concludes and returns the initial questionnaire.
 The results of the questionnaire are composed at a central location and the
central coordinator prepares a second set of questionnaire based on the
previous answers.
 Each member receives a copy of the results accompanied by the second
questionnaire.
 Members are required to review the results and respond to the second
questionnaire. The results typically trigger new solutions or motivate changes in
the original ideas.
 The process is repeated until a general agreement is obtained.

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LEADERSHIP

Leadership can be defined as the ability of the management to make sound decisions
and inspire others to perform well. It is the process of directing the behavior of others
towards achieving a common goal. In short, leadership is getting things done through
others.

Importance of Leadership
Leadership is very important in a firm as it leads to higher performance by the team
members, it improves motivation and morale within the members, and helps to respond
to change.

Leadership facilitates organizational success by creating responsibility and

accountability among the members of the organization. In short, it increases value in
an organization.

Leader Vs Manager
A leader is someone whom people follow or someone who guides or directs others. A
manager is someone who is responsible for directing and controlling the work and staff
in an organization, or of a department within it.

The main difference between the two is that a leader works by example, while a
manager dictates expectations. If a manager goes against the rules, that will tarnish his
position as a manager. If a leader goes against the example he or she is trying to set,
that will be seen as a setback. Following are a few subtle differences between the two
−

 A leader is an innovator and creator whereas a manager is a commander.

 A leader can’t be a manager but the opposite is possible, a manager is more
than a leader.
 A leader does what is right, while the manager makes things right.
 A leader deals with change whereas a manager plans for a change.

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  A leader gives direction to do something whereas the manager plans for
everything that is to be done.
 A leader encourages people whereas the manager controls people.
 A leader handles communication, credibility, and empowerment whereas a
manager deals with organizing and staffing.

Leadership Styles
Different leadership styles exist in work environments. The culture and goal of an
organization determine which leadership style fits best. Some organizations offer
different leadership styles within an organization, depending on the necessary tasks to
complete and departmental needs.

We find five different leadership styles in the corporate world. They are as follows −

Laissez-Faire
A laissez-faire leader does not directly supervise employees and fails to provide
regular updates to those under his supervision. Highly experienced and trained
employees with minimal requirement of supervision fall under the laissez-faire
leadership style.

But, not all employees possess these features. This leadership style blocks the
production of employees needing supervision. The laissez-faire style implements no
leadership or supervision efforts from managers, which can lead to poor production,
lack of control and increasing costs.

Autocratic
The autocratic leadership style permits managers to make decisions alone without the
input of others. Managers access total authority and impose their will on employees.
No one opposes the decisions of autocratic leaders. Countries like Cuba and North
Korea operate under the autocratic leadership style.

This leadership style benefits those who require direct supervision. Creative employees
who participate in group functions detest this leadership style.

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Participative
This is also known as the democratic leadership style. It values the input of team
members and peers, but the responsibility of making the final decision rests with the
participative leader. Participative leadership motivates employee morale because
employees make contributions to the decision-making process. It accounts to a feeling
that their opinions matter.

When an organization needs to make changes within itself, that is internally, the
participative leadership style helps employees accept changes easily as they play a
role in the process. This leadership style meets challenges when companies need to
make a decision in a short period of time.

Transactional
Transactional leadership style is formed by the concept of reward and punishment.
Transactional leaders believe that the employee's performance is completely
dependent on these two factors. When there is an encouragement, the workers put in
their best effort and the bonus is in monetary terms in most of the cases. In case they
fail to achieve the set target they are given a negative appraisal.

Transactional leaders pay more attention to physical and security requirements of the
employees.

Transformational
Transformational leadership has the ability to affect employee's perceptions through
the returns that organization gets in the form of human capital benefits. These leaders
have the ability to reap higher benefits by introducing knowledge management
processes, encouraging interpersonal communication among employees and creating
healthy organizational culture.

It helps in flourishing organizational innovation by creating a participative environment

or culture. It promotes a culture where the employees have autonomy to speak about
their experiences and share knowledge.

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It has been seen that transformational leaders are more innovative than transactional
and laisse-faire leaders.

Leadership theory
1. Traditional Theory
Traditional theory is a theory based on different traits of a human beings. It assumes
that leaders are born and not made. According to this theory, leadership behavior is the
sum total of all traits that a leader possess.

Thus this theory gives the profile of a successful and complete leader. According to this
theory, there are five human traits. They are −

 Physical trait − it includes energy, activity, appearance, and height.

 Ability trait − it includes judgement, knowledge, and fluency in speech.
 Personal trait − it includes self-confidence, creativity, and enthusiasm.
 Work trait − it includes organization and achievement.
 Social trait − it includes interpersonal skill, cooperativeness, popularity and
prestige.

Drawbacks
Following are the major drawbacks of this theory −

 Traits are not arranged according to their importance.

 There is no quantitative tool to judge the human traits.

 This trait can’t be used universally.

 This trait can be achieved and developed.

 Situational factors are avoided.

2. Behavioral Theory
This theory explains the effectiveness of leadership. According to this theory,
leadership has two qualities i.e., initiating structure and consideration. These qualities
are tested with higher and lower levels with proper intersection of each other.

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Initiating Structure
It is the level up to which a leader is task oriented and directs the employee towards
achieving a goal. In this case, the leader gives instruction, makes plan and schedules
work activities.

Consideration
It is the level up to which a leader is concerned with the sub-ordinates, ideas and
feelings. Considerate leaders are friendly, they show concern for sub-ordinates’ well-
being and satisfaction.

This type of leadership is achieved by performance and is found to be effective. But it

is not the best way as situational factors are not taken into consideration.

3. Contingency Theory
According to this theory, propounded by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard, believes the
effectiveness of a leader is dependent on the action or readiness of his followers. By
readiness we mean the extent to which the followers are able and willing to achieve the
goal.

This theory is explained on the basis of four cases.

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 Case 1 − In case one, we have high relationship behavior and low task behavior.
The leader motivates the followers and helps in decision making. Not much
productivity can be seen in this case but the sense of togetherness is high.
 Case 2 − In case two, we have high relationship behavior as well as high task
behavior. In this combination, the leader explains the decision and helps to build
confidence of the employees. In this case, productivity as well as loyalty towards
the leader is more.
 Case 3 − In case three, we have a combination of low relationship behavior and
low task behavior. Here we see that the leader delegates the responsibility of
decision making to the followers. In this case, there is poor communication as
well as poor production.
 Case 4 − Here we deal with a combination of low relationship behavior and high
task behavior. The leader gives specific direction and supervises the
performance. This theory is effective only if the leaders change their style
irrespective of the readiness of the followers.

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ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT

Conflict can be defined as a mental struggle resulting from incompatible or opposing

needs, drives, wishes, and external or internal demands. Where there are people,
there is conflict.

They are usually taken in a negative association. However, this is inaccurate as

conflicts are necessary for healthy relationships. It all depends on the approach we use
to resolve the conflict.

Classification of Conflict
When we think of the different types of conflict, we might instantly think of the ones
referred to in literature, especially in fiction. They can be applied to real life, of course.
However, in contemporary times, types of conflict which are easily identifiable are
classified into four different types −

 Intrapersonal

 Intragroup

 Interpersonal

 Intergroup

Intrapersonal Conflict
Intrapersonal conflict takes place within an individual. The person experiences it in his
own mind. Thus, it is a type of conflict that is psychological involving the individual’s
thoughts, values, principles and emotions. Intrapersonal conflict may come in different
forms, from the simple mundane ones like deciding whether or not to go vegan for
lunch to ones that can affect major decisions such as choosing a career path.

However, this type of conflict can be quite difficult to handle, if you find it hard to
decipher your inner struggles. It results in restlessness and uneasiness, or can even
cause depression. On such occasions, it is advised to seek a way to let go of the
anxiety by communicating with other people. Eventually, when the person finds

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himself/herself out of the situation, he/she can become more empowered as a person.
Thus, the experience invokes a positive change which helps in personal growth.

Intragroup Conflict
Intragroup conflict occurs among individuals within a team. The incompatibilities and
misunderstandings between team members leads to intragroup conflict. It starts from
interpersonal disagreements like team members have different personalities which may
lead to tension or differences in views and ideas. Say for example, during a
presentation, members of the team might find the notions presented by the one
presiding to be erroneous due to their differences in opinion.

Within a team, conflict can be helpful in coming up with decisions, which will eventually
allow them to achieve their objectives as a team. But, if the degree of conflict disrupts
harmony among the members, then some serious guidance from a different party will
be needed for it to be settled.

Interpersonal Conflict
Interpersonal conflict means a conflict between two individuals. Basically, this occurs
because of some differences in people. We have varied personalities which usually
lead to incompatible choices and opinions. So, it is a natural occurrence which can
eventually help in personal growth or developing our relationships with others.

In addition, adjustments are necessary for managing this type of conflict. However,
when interpersonal conflict becomes too destructive, calling in a mediator helps so as
to have the issue resolved.

Intergroup Conflict
Intergroup conflict occurs when a misunderstanding arises among different teams
within an organization. For example, the marketing department of an organization can
come in conflict with the customer support department. This is because of the varied
sets of goals and interests of these different groups. In addition to this, competition also
contributes to intergroup conflict. There are other factors which increase this type of

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conflict. Some of these factors may include a rivalry in resources or the boundaries set
by a group to others which forms their own identity as a team.

Conflict should not always be perceived as a problem rather at times it is a chance for
growth and can be an effective means of opening up among groups or individuals.
However, when conflict begins to suppress or disrupt productivity and gives way to
more conflicts, then conflict management is what is needed for problem resolution.

Conflict Resolution
Conflict resolution is a method by which two or more parties find a peaceful solution to
a disagreement among them. The disagreement can be personal, financial, political, or
emotional. When a disagreement arises, often the best course of action is negotiation
to resolve the disagreement. We all know that when people gather for a discussion, it is
not necessary that what one thinks is right the other thinks the same way, this
difference in thinking or mentality leads to conflict.

"I’m doing my best at work and you expect me to do more! Why don’t you ask the other
team members?" This is the start of a conflict! Let us know about some of the conflict
management techniques.

Conflict Management Techniques

We get into a conflict when the person opposite to us has a different mindset. It is very
common in a workplace to get into differences of opinion. Sometimes there is a conflict
between two or more employees, sometimes employees have a conflict with their
managers and so on. Now the question is, how can we manage disagreements in ways
that build personal and collegial relationships?

Here are five strategies from conflict management theory for managing stressful
situations. None of them is a "one-size-fits-all" answer. Which one is the best in a given
situation depends on variety of factors, including an appraisal of the levels of conflict.

 Collaborating − win/win
 Compromising − win some/lose some

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  Accommodating − lose/win
 Competing − win/lose
 Avoiding − no winners/no losers

1. Collaborating
This technique follows the rule "I win, you win". Collaborating means working together
by integrating ideas set out by multiple people. The objective here is to find a creative
solution acceptable to everyone. It calls for a significant time commitment but is not
appropriate for all conflicts.

This technique is used in situations where −

 There is a high level of trust

 We don't want to take complete responsibility

 We want others to also have "ownership" of solutions

 People involved are willing to change their thinking

 We need to work through animosity and hard feelings

However, this process takes a lot of time and energy and some may take advantage of
other people's trust and openness.

Example − A businessman should work collaboratively with the manager to establish

policies, but collaborative decision-making regarding office supplies wastes time better
spent on other activities.

2. Compromising
This technique follows the rule "You bend, I bend". Compromising means adjusting
with each other’s opinions and ideas, and thinking of a solution where some points of
both the parties can be entertained. Similarly, both the parties need to give up on some
of their ideas and should agree with the other.

This technique can be used in situations where −

 People of equal levels are equally committed to goals

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  Time can be saved by reaching intermediate settlements on individual parts of
complex matters
 Goals are moderately important

Important values and long-term objectives can be derailed using this technique. This
process may not work if initial demands are high and mainly if there's no commitment
to honor the compromise solutions.

Example − Two friends had a fight and they decide to compromise with each other
through mutual understanding.

3. Accommodating
This technique follows the rule "I lose, you win". Accommodating means giving up of
ideas and thoughts so that the other party wins and the conflict ends. This technique
can be used when −

 An issue is not that important to us as it is to the other person

 We realize we are wrong
 We are willing to let others learn by mistake
 We know we cannot win
 It is not the right time and we would prefer to simply build credit for the future
 Harmony is extremely important
 What the parties have in common is a good deal more important than their
differences

However, using this technique, one's own ideas don't get attention and credibility, and
influence can be lost.

Example − When we fight with someone we love we choose to let them win.

4. Competing
This technique follows the rule "I win, you lose". Competing means when there is a
dispute a person or a group is not willing to collaborate or adjust but it simply wants the
opposite party to lose. This technique can be used when −

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  We know you are right.
 Time is short and a quick decision is to be made.
 A strong personality is trying to steamroll us and we don't want to be taken
advantage of.
 We need to stand up for our rights.

This technique can further escalate conflict or losers may retaliate.

Example − When in a debate the party with more facts wins.

5. Avoiding
This technique follows the rule "No winners, no losers". Avoiding means the ideas
suggested by both the parties are rejected and a third person is involved who takes a
decision without favoring any of the parties. This technique can be used when −

 The conflict is small and relationships are at stake

 We are counting to ten to cool off
 More important issues are pressing and we feel we don't have time to deal with
this particular one
 We have no power and we see no chance of getting our concerns met
 We are too emotionally involved and others around us can solve the conflict
more successfully

Using this technique may lead to postponing the conflict, that may make matters
worse.

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STRESS MANAGEMENT IN AN ORGANISATION
The nature of stress has been studied by scholars in a wide range of academic
disciplines. Physicians, psychiatrists, and researchers in management have all studied
its causes and its symptoms, and have defined the term in a variety of different ways.

Stress is defined as "the reactions of individuals to new or threatening factors in their

work environments”.

According to Robbins (2008), Stress is a dynamic condition in which an individual is

confronted with an opportunity, constraint, or demand related to what he or she desires
and for which the outcome is perceived to be both uncertain and important

Stress can be either positive or negative. Some new work situations can bring us
positive challenges and excitement. For example, promotions to new jobs present
employees with positive stress. Employees may feel anxious about their new work
assignments; they also anticipate them eagerly and look forward to the additional
challenges, rewards, and excitement. In these cases, the new and uncertain job
situations create positive stress. The positive stress is also called the eustress.
However, there are certain other types of work that are very threatening and anxiety-
arousing. For example, depression in the economy can create negative stress for sales
personnel, because they will be much more anxious about making sales commissions
and sales quotas.

For every individual there is an optimum level of stress under which he or she may
perform to full capacity. If the stress experienced is below this optimum level, then the
individual gets bored, the motivational level to work reaches a low, point, and apathy
sets in. If one operates in a very low stress environment and constantly experiences
boredom, the person is likely to psychologically or physically withdraw from work.
Psychological withdrawal will result in careless mistakes being frequently made,
forgetting to do things, and thinking of things other than work during work hours.
Physical withdrawal will manifest itself in increased rates of tardiness and

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absenteeism, which may ultimately lead to turnover. Though the optimum stress level is
different Form different individuals, each individual can sense and determine how much
stress is functional for an individual to operate in a productive manner.

Research indicates that those who possess high tolerance of ambiguity, internal locus
of control and self-esteem seem to effectively handle a high level of stress. An individual
possessing high degree of tolerance for ambiguity allows him to experience very little
anguish while operating under conditions of insufficient information or in an uncertain
environment. People with an internal locus of control also handle stress well since they
feel they are in control of the situation, rather than feeling controlled by the situation
they are facing. This makes it possible for them to manage their environmental stress
without experiencing its harmful effects. Those with high self-esteem also handle stress
with ease since a high self-esteem increases the confidence and enables them to deal
with stressful situations with calmness and clear thinking. The more successfully one
handles a stressful situation without panicking or getting overwhelmed by it, the more
confidently will the individual face further stressful situations. Thus, it is possible to raise
one’s capacity to handle in different situations.

SOURCES OF STRESS
Stress is a reality of our everyday life. There are both positive and negative stresses
that come from our work and non-work lives. As pointed out by Near. Rice, and Hunt
(1980) and Sckaran (1986), among others, the work and non-work domains of one's life
are closely interrelated. The stresses and strains experienced in one domain are carried
over to the other. Thus, if one experiences stress at work, that stress will be carried over
to the home.
One major source of job stress is the job itself. The way the job is designed, the
amount of time pressure an individual faces and the amount of expectations others
have of a person at work can all lead to job stress. Interpersonal relationships are a
second source of job stress. How much contact an individual has with coworkers and
managers, how much time he or she deals with clients or consumers, and how pleasant
those interactions are all influences of how much stress an individual experiences at

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work. Third source is problems in personal lives, which can spill over into the work
environment, adding further tension to an already stressful work situation.
SOURCES OF JOB STRESS
1. Job Characteristics
 Role ambiguity
 Role conflict
 Role overload
 Ethical dilemmas
2. Interpersonal Relationships
 Amount of contact with others
 Dealing with people in other departments
 Organizational climate
3. Organizational Factors
4. Personal Factors
 Career concerns
 Geographical mobility
 Rate of life change

1. Job Characteristics
A major source of job stress is a person's role in the organization. A role is simply the
set of expectations that other people in the organization have for an individual, For
example, supervisors, coworkers, customers and suppliers expect an employee to
behave in certain predictable ways. The expectations others have of an employee arc
sometimes unclear, in conflict, or too high for the employee to meet within the time
allotted, and he or she experiences stress.
 Role Ambiguity: When there is a lot of uncertainty surrounding job definitions or
job expectations, people experience role ambiguity. With the recent increase in
mergers and acquisitions among major organizations, more and more employees
arc experiencing job stress as a result of role ambiguity. Role ambiguity is
anxiety arousing among employees that leads to job stress.

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  Role Conflict: Often employees discover that different groups of people in an
organization have widely varying expectations of them, and that they cannot
meet all those expectations. This inconsistency of expectations associated with a
role is called role conflict, which results in stress.
 Role Overload: Role overload is a situation in which employees feel they are
being asked to do more than time or ability permits. Working under time pressure
is especially stressful.
 Role Under load: Role Under load is the condition in which employees have too
little work to do or too little variety -in their work. For example, salespeople in a
store with no customer, standing around all day with nothing to do, could be said
to experience role under load. Ironically, role under load leads to low self-esteem,
increased frequency of nervous symptoms and increased health problems.
 Ethical Dilemmas: Ethical dilemmas such as whether or not one should report
the observed unethical behaviors of another person can cause extreme levels of
stress in individuals. This will be especially true for those who have strong moral
values of right and wrong and a deep sense of personal and corporate social
responsibility. Tensions arise because one might have to contend against one's
own colleagues who might be close friends, and may fear of reprisal and other
undesirable consequences.

2. Interpersonal Relationships
Another major source of stress in organization is poor interpersonal relationships with
supervisors, subordinates, coworkers. or clients. When interpersonal relationships at
work are unpleasant, employees develop a generalized anxiety, a diffuse feeling of
dread about upcoming meetings and interactions. Three aspects of interpersonal
relationships at work, which have a negative impact on job stress, are as follows:
 Amount of contact with others: Jobs vary in terms of how much interpersonal
contact is built into them. Too much prolonged contact with other people can
cause stress.
 Amount of contact with people in other departments: Having contacts with
people outside one's own department creates a special sort of stress. People in

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 other departments do not always have an adequate understanding of jobs
outside their own areas, which can cause stress.
 Organizational climate: The overall psychological climate of the organization
can create stress. When day-to-day life in an organization is marked by
unfriendly, distant, or hostile exchanges, employees are continually tense and
this causes stress.

3. Organizational Factors
Following are the organizational factors that cause stress in individuals:
 Work environment factors such as noise, heal, poor lighting, radiation and smoke
are stress-inducing agents.
 Insufficient resources such as time, budget, raw materials, space or manpower
also induce stress in the work environment. When one has to produce and
perform with inadequate resources on a long-term basis, this naturally imposes
stresses and strains on the individuals who are responsible for getting the job
done.
 Structural factors in the organizational setting such as staff rules and' regulations
and reward systems, may cause stress.
 Lack of career promotion in organizations may be sometime cause stress.
 Environmental factors of stress include sudden and unanticipated changes in the
marketplace, technology, the financial market and so on.

4. Personal Factors
Employees’ personal lives have a marked effect on their lives at work. If things are
going well personally, they are more likely to be upbeat and optimistic. They have more
energy and patience for dealing with problems at work. On the other hand, if employees
are having some personal problems, they might be more tense or distracted when they
go to work.
Factors that influence how much stress people bring from their persona! lives to
the work setting are as follows:

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  Career Concerns: One major career concern that can cause stress is lack of job
security. A second career concern that can cause employees stress is status
incongruity, i.e., having jobs with less status, power and prestige than they think
they deserve.
 Geographical Mobility: Geographical moves create stress because they disrupt
the routines of daily life. When geographical moves arc undertaken as part of a
job transfer, the moves can be even more stressful. The transferred employees
are likely to feel out of control at work, too, and experience their new work
environments as unpredictable.

EFFECTS OR CONSEQUENCES OF JOB STRESS

Negative stress has unpleasant consequences for them, their families and for the
organizations they serve.
Effects on the Individual
The impacts of distress on individuals are of following types:
 The subjective or intrapersonal effects of stress are feelings of anxiety, boredom,
apathy, nervousness, depression, fatigue, and anger. Sometimes experiencing the
stress may cause aggressive behaviors on the part of the individual.
 The cognitive effects include poor concentration, short attention span, mental blocks
and inability to make decisions.
 The physiological effects can be seen in increased heart and pulse rate, high blood
pressure, dryness of throat, and excessive sweating.
 The behavioral effects arc manifest in such things as accident proneness, drinking,
excessive eating, smoking, impulsive behaviors, depression, and withdrawal
behaviors.
 The manifest health effects could be stomach disorders, asthma, eczema, and other
psychosomatic disorders. In addition, the mental health, i.e. the ability to function
effectively in one's daily life, will also decline as excessive stress is experienced.

Consequences for the Family

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Negative stress, which is handled by individuals in dysfunctional ways, such as drinking
or withdrawal behaviors, will have an adverse effect on their home life. Spouse abuse,
child abuse, alienation from family members, and even divorce could result from
dysfunctional coping mechanisms.

Consequences to Organizations
The adverse consequences on an organization include low performance and
productivity, high rates of absenteeism and poor decision-making. It also leads to loss of
customers because of poor worker attitudes, increased alienation of the worker from the
job, and even destructive and aggressive behaviors resulting in strikes and sabotage.
The stresses experienced by employees who take on critical roles and are responsible
for safety can sometimes be detrimental to the public. For instance, the stresses
experienced by a train driver or railway guard, or that of an airline pilot, navigator, or air
traffic controller may result in serious accidents. Needless to say that the costs of
employee stress to the organization in terms of lost profits, poor image and loss of
future business are enormous.

METHODS OF MANAGING STRESS

Stress is a factor that everybody has to contend with on a daily basis both in the work
and non-work spheres of life. Since the body has only a limited capacity to respond to
stress, it is important for individuals to optimally manage their stress level to operate as
fully functioning human beings.
There are several ways in which stress can be handled so that the dysfunctional
consequences of stress can be reduced. Some of them are:

Role Analysis Technique (RAT)

The Role Analysis Technique helps both the manager and the employee to analyze the
requirements and expectations from the job. Breaking-down the job into various
components clarifies the role of the job for the entire system. This also helps to
eliminate reduction of work and thus lowering down the stress level.

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Job Relocation
Job relocation assistance is offered to employees who are transferred, by finding
alternative employment for the spouses of the transferred employees and getting
admissions in schools for their children in the new place. These arrangements help to
reduce the anxiety and stress for the moving family.

Recreational Program
Providing recreational facilities, arranging group meditation programs, help to reduce
the stress levels of the employees.

Employee Assistance Program

Another widely used strategy is the employee assistance Programs, which offer a
variety of assistance to employees. These include counseling employees who seek
assistance on how to deal with alcohol and drug abuse, handling conflicts at the work
place, dealing with marital and other family problems.

Career Counseling
Career Counseling helps the employee to obtain professional advice regarding career
that would help the individual to achieve personal goals. It also makes the employees
aware of what additional educational qualifications or specialized technical training, if
any, (hat they should acquire. By becoming knowledgeable about the possible avenues
for advancement, the employees who consider their careers to be important can reduce
their stress levels by becoming more realistic about their options and can start preparing
themselves for it.

Time Management
Another way of coping with stress is to manage time more effectively. People can learn
to get better organized so that they can do their work more efficiently.

Delegation

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Another way of coping with job stress is to delegate some responsibilities to others.
Delegation can directly decrease workload upon the manager and helps to reduce the
stress. !

More Information and Help

Some new employees have to spend more time on a job than necessary because they
are not sure what they are doing. So it is necessary that some help should be provided
before doing the work that would lead to much efficient, effective work. It would also
reduce anxiety and stress among the employees.

Health Maintenance
Probably the most frequently used organizational stress management program is health
maintenance. Many companies invest large sum of money in gym and sport facilities for
maintaining the health of the employees.

Supervisor Training
Another type of stress management Program that organizations are experimenting
with is supervisor training. The emphasis on supervisory training Program is how to
prevent job stress. Managers are trained to give better performance appraisals, to listen
to employees’ problems more effectively, and to communicate job assignments and
instructions more clearly.

Individual Stress Reduction Workshops

Some organizations have also sponsored individual stress reduction workshops for their
employees. These programs include biofeedback, meditation to career counseling, time
management and interpersonal skills workshops. In lectures and seminars, participants
are given a basic understanding of the causes of stress and its consequences. Then,
participants are given materials to help them identify the major sources of stress in their
own lives, and some strategies for dealing with that stress more effectively.
Organisational Structure and climate

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The structure and climate of a work setting also influence occupational stress
experienced by an employee. Three interventional strategies have been suggested;

Decentralisation
Organisations described as centralised (with tall organisation structures) often have
increased stress among workers. Strategies for helping promote decentralisation within
organisation hence become increasingly popular in recent years. These groups form a
team that is identified as autonomous because the members determine the direction the
group will follow along with procedures and policies that will guide group members. The
group also shares the rewards with all members of the team.

Participative Decision-making
Another technique that is related to decentralisation is participative decision making
(PDM). This involves creating systems and communication channels so that employees
are involved in making important decisions. This will bring more information availability
to employees and they in turn feel a greater sense of influence and control, thus
decreasing ambiguity and distress. To ensure the success of PDM management should
be committed to the philosophy of PDM and secondly the kind of decisions that are
offered for employee participation should be those issues that affect their daily work.

Climate surveys
Climate survey (attitude surveys, opinion surveys or employee reaction surveys) are
designed to elicit employee reactions and preferences to assist management in
developing action strategies that might improve organisational effectiveness and
individual employee satisfaction. These surveys act as a kind of thermometer with
regard to climate in an organisation. Several specific suggestions have been offered
about how to improve a survey effort first well designed questionnaires, secondly
employees should be allowed to complete the survey anonymously, thirdly survey
efforts should be pursued on a regular basis for example annually and lastly it is
important to offer feedback and the results to participants.

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Human resource management system
There is the potential for employees to experience stress from the time they begin
working is a particular setting until the time they leave. Human resource management
has been identified as the function within organisations that deal with the many
transactions experienced by individuals in organisations. Interventions associated with
the following human resource systems are discussed below:
Recruitment and selection
Recruitment and selection are processes that attract people to an organisation and to
select people who have the best ‘fit’ for the organisational requirements. In recruitment,
one basic strategy is to offer potential employees a realistic job preview (RJP). Gaining
real experience before beginning a job helps individuals build resistance to unrealistic
expectations that might lead to stress after they are hired (Mitterson and Ivancevich,
1987).
The second way in which stress can be reduced for employees in selection process is
using selection methods that are reliable and valid. This is to match skill and
behaviourally based job requirement for example, a person with a low tolerance for
ambiguity and he or she is forced to work in a job that calls for working alone, the
individual might find the job very stressful.
Socialisation and orientation
After entering the organisation, an individual is faced with the task of becoming adjusted
to the new work environment. This period, often called socialisation has been
considered as having great reduction potential for stress. Human resource practitioners
should be actively involved in the process of planning and facilitating these programmes
aimed at ensuring successful socialisation into organisations (Jackson, 1984).
Goal setting
Goal setting involves determining specific standards of performance that will be sought.
Goal setting assists in the reduction of stress in four ways (Locke and Latharn, 1984)
first, the employee measures a sense of satisfaction when a goal is achieved, secondly,
the process of being involved in individual action can be reassuring, thirdly, the goal
setting process that give the employee a sense of continually moving towards a defined
target, fourthly to reduce the feelings of lunchtime with regard to performance

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evaluation. A well-known system of goal setting is management by objective (MBO),
which was developed by P. Druker.
Performance feedback
Receiving feedback on performance has long been understood to affect motivation and
satisfaction. The intervention strategy involves providing training to supervisors
focussed on understanding how performance evaluation systems operate and based on
developmental evaluation other than judgemental (Ivancevich and Matteson 1980).
Training
Training has been identified as an important component of intervention to deal with
occupational stress (Sauter et al… 1990). Several process of training should be
pursued with regard to stress management.
Career development
This is about individual revitalization, problem identification, and increased employee
skill building, improved talent matching and increased goal commitment. The system
involves a training programme about value of lateral moves, identification of skills that
transfer between job families.
Another career programme a company maintains is a career resource centre focused
on a variety of topics such as educational opportunities, career planning, the world of
work and management with computerised information bank on career planning and
development.
Special programmes
These are popularly known as employee assistance programmes (EAP) and health
awareness programmes. The primary aim of an EAP is to decrease the effect on the
personal problem that can impact on productivity (Sauter et al… 1990). Health
awareness programmes aim at the prevention of illness through education and
advocacy of good health. The services include nutrition, fitness, and exercise, smoking
assertion and health risk appraisals.
Physical qualities
There are multiple ways of dealing with the physical environment stressors encountered
where practitioners might alter the environment to deal with the stressor for example,
decrease the noise level or cut the light glare. The second strategy is to use the

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expertise of the persons in the job to generate ideas and solutions about how to
improve the working conditions that are causing stress.

Organization assessment will help monitor work place interventions through

absenteeism and turnover rates, Job satisfaction, Work climate to trace positive
indicators of stress reduction and bottom line cost savings. In evaluating the
effectiveness of stress management interventions, it is difficult to determine the best
way of measuring the construct. Organisation’s structure, territory and climate are also
related to occupational stress and burnout. However, the difficulty with using work
climate as an outcome measure in evaluating stress management effectiveness stems
from the lack of clarity with which climate is defined.

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ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

Organizational culture can be defined as the group norms, values, beliefs and
assumptions practiced in an organization. It brings stability and control within the firm.
The organization is more stable and its objective can be understood more clearly.

Organizational culture helps the group members to resolve their differences, overcome
the barriers and also helps them in tackling risks.

Elements of Organizational Culture

The two key elements seen in organizational culture are −

 Visible elements − These elements are seen by the outer world. Example,
dress code, activities, setup, etc.
 Invisible elements − These inner elements of the group cannot be seen by
people outside the group or firm. Example, values, norms, assumptions, etc.
Now let us discuss some other elements of organizational culture. They are −
 Stories − Stories regarding the history of the firm, or founder.
 Rituals − Precise practices an organization follows as a habit.
 Symbol − The logo or signature or the style statement of a company.
 Language − A common language that can be followed by all, like English.
 Practice − Discipline, daily routine or say the tight schedule everyone follows
without any failure.
 Values and Norms − The idea over which a company is based or the thought of
the firm is considered as its value and the condition to adopt them are called
norms.
 Assumptions − It means we consider something to be true without any facts.
Assumptions can be used as the standard of working, means the employees
prepare themselves to remain above standard.

Different Types of Organizational Culture

The culture a firm follows can be further classified into different types. They are −

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  Mechanistic and Organic culture

 Authoritarian and Participative culture

 Subculture and Dominant culture

 Strong and Weak culture

 Entrepreneurial and Market culture

1. Mechanistic and Organic Culture

Mechanistic culture is formed by formal rule and standard operating procedures.
Everything needs to be defined clearly to the employees like their task, responsibility
and concerned authorities. Communication process is carried according to the direction
given by the organization. Accountability is one of the key factors of mechanistic
culture.

Organic culture is defined as the essence of social values in an organization. Thus

there exists a high degree of sociability with very few formal rules and regulations in
the company. It has a systematic hierarchy of authority that leads towards free flow of
communication. Some key elements of organic culture include authority, responsibility,
accountability and direct flow towards the employee.

2. Authoritarian and Participative Culture

Authoritarian culture means power of one. In this culture, power remains with the top
level management. All the decisions are made by the top management with no
employee involvement in the decision making as well as goal shaping process. The
authority demands obedience from the employee and warns them for punishment in
case of mistake or irregularity. This type of culture is followed by military organization.

In participative culture, employees actively participate in the decision making and goal
shaping process. As the name suggests, it believes in collaborative decision making. In
this type of culture, employees are perfectionist, active and professional. Along with
group decision making, group problem solving process is also seen here.

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 3. Subculture and Dominant Culture
In subculture, some members of the organization make and follow a culture but not all
members. It is a part of organizational culture, thus we can see many subcultures in an
organization. Every department in a company have their own culture that gets
converted to a subculture. So, the strength and adaptability of an organizational culture
is dependent on the success of subculture.

In dominant culture, majority of subculture combine to become a dominant culture. The

success of dominant culture is dependent on the homogeneity of the subculture, that
is, the mixture of different cultures. At the same point of time, some cold war between a
dominant culture and a minor culture can also be seen.

4. Strong and Weak Culture

In a strong culture, the employees are loyal and have a feeling of belongingness
towards the organization. They are proud of their company as well as of the work they
do and they slave towards their goal with proper coordination and control. Perception
and commitment are two aspects that are seen within the employees. In this culture,
there is less employee turnover and high productivity.

In a weak culture, the employees hardly praise their organization. There is no loyalty
towards the company. Thus, employee dissatisfaction and high labor turnover are two
aspects of this culture.

5. Entrepreneurial and Market Culture

Entrepreneurial culture is a flexible and risk-taking culture. Here the employees show
their innovativeness in thinking and are experimental in practice. Individual initiations
make the goal easy to achieve. Employees are given freedom in their activity. The
organization rewards the employees for better performance.

Market culture is based on achievement of goal. It is a highly target-oriented and

completely profit-oriented culture. Here the relationship between the employees and
the organization is to achieve the goal. The social relation among the workers is not
motivating.

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How to Create an Organizational Culture
An organizational culture is created with the combination of certain criteria that are
mentioned below −

 The founder of the organization may partly set a culture.

 The environment within which the organization standards may influence its
activities to set a culture.
 Sometimes interchange of culture in between different organizations create
different new cultures.
 The members of the organization may set a culture that is flexible to adapt.
 New cultures are also created in an organization due to demand of time and
situation.

The culture of an organizational can change due to composition of workforce, merger

and acquisition, planned organizational change, and influence of other organizational
culture.

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ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

Organizational change can be defined as the alteration in structure, technology or

people in an organization or behavior by an organization. Here we need to note that
change in organizational culture is different from change in an organization. A new
method or style or new rule is implemented here.

An organizational change occurs due to two major factors namely −

 External factor − External factors are those factors that are present outside the
firm but force the firm to change or implement a new law, rule etc. For example,
all banks are bound to follow the rules laid down by the RBI.
 Internal factor − Internal factors are those factors that are caused or introduced
inside an organization that forces a change. For example, no smoking in the
workplace.

Kurt Lewin’s Force Field Analysis

Kurt Lewin, is a noted organizational theorist, who proposed the force field analysis for
organizational change. In this theory, he has prioritized two factors for change in an
organization, namely −

 Driving force − Driving force can be defined as an organizational force that

makes a change with respect to structure, people and technology. In short, it
drives the organization from one culture to another.
 Restoring force − Restoring force is the force which changes the culture from
the existing state to the old state. It indicates a backward motion while the
driving force indicates a forward motion.

Importance of Organizational Change

There is a need of change in an organization because there is always a hope for
further development, and in order to survive in a competitive market, the organization
needs to be updated with changes. However, we have listed some reasons to explain
why changes are deliberately made and carefully planned by the organization before
implementation.
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  It improves the means to satisfy the economic requirements of people.

 It enhances the profitability of organization.

 It promotes employee satisfaction and well-being.

Planned Change
We can define planned change as any kind of alteration or modification which is done
in advance and differently for improvement.

The Need for Planned Change

Planned change takes places in an organization when there is a demand for change
due to two types of forces. These forces are grouped into internal sources and external
sources.

Internal forces that lead to a planned change in an organization include obsolescence

of production and service, new market opportunities, new strategic direction, increasing
workforce diversity, and shift in socio-cultural values.

External forces that lead to a planned change in an organization include regulators,

competitors, market force, customers, and technology. Each of these forces can create
pressing demand for change in small or big, public or private, business or non-
business organizations.

Process of Planned Change

Once the management decides to implement some changes in the organization, it
needs to be done carefully as it is a very sensitive issue. It is very important for all the
employees to adapt to change. According to Kurt Lewin, the planned organizational
change is implemented in three different stages. They are −

 Unfreezing − In this stage, the organization studies if the change is required or

not, what and why is the change necessary. Considering the entire situation, the
organization decides for appropriate change. Thus a plan and strategy is
formulated as required.

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  Changing − In this stage, the organization executes the plan and program for
change. For this purpose, proper precautions are taken in order to maintain
cooperation and coordination between the employees and management,
avoiding miscommunication or disputes. Adequate supervision and control is
arranged as needed.
 Refreezing − This is the final stage, in order to bring organizational change. By
way of supervision, the organization tries to evaluate the effectiveness of
change. Collecting all this information, the management interprets whether to
continue or replace change by some other alternatives or to make further minor
changes.

Types of Planned Change

On the basis of a company’s requirement planned change is classified into three types.
They are −

 Change in structure

 Change in technology

 Change in people

1. Change in Structure
We say that the planned change required is change in structure when development is
required in these following areas −

 Change in management

 New management

 Change in position or location

 Change in objective, rules, regulations etc.

 Launching new branches

2. Change in Technology
We say that the planned change required is change in technology when development
is required in these following areas −

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  Need of office automation

 Installing new hardware and software

 Executing new working procedures

 New methods in production function

 Producing new products and devices

 New training, research and development program

3. Change in People
We say that the planned change required is change in people when development is
required in these following areas −

 New candidate requirement

 Promotion or demotion

 Transfer to other location

 Suspension or dismissal

 Deputation

 Training and development

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POWER, POLITICS

POWER
Power must be used because managers must influence those they depend on. Power
also is crucial in the development of managers’ self-confidence and willingness to
support subordinates. From this perspective, power should be accepted as a natural
part of any organization. Managers should recognize and develop their own power to
coordinate and support the work of subordinates; it is powerlessness, not power, that
undermines organizational effectiveness.

Robins (1984), defines power as, capacity that one has to influence the behaviour of
others.
Power is the ability to marshal the human, informational, and material resources to get
something done.

Power and Authority

Power emphasises manipulation. The person with power has the ability to get an
individual or group to do something, or to change in a certain way. Such a person can
manipulate others.
Authority emphasises legitimacy or acceptance. The person with authority has the
ability to manipulate and change others.

Power need not be legitimate. Authority is always legitimate. Authority is legitimised

by the pursuit of collective goals that are associated with group consensus. Power is the
pursuit of individual or narrow goals associated with group compliance.

Power and Influence

Influencing is the use of both power and authority in order to alter the attitudes of people
so that they can change in a certain way. For example, the way they perform or the way
they feel satisfied.

THEORIES ABOUT THE SOURCES OF SOCIAL POWER

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Analysing the definition of power shows the following elements:
• Effectance — getting one’s way
• The necessity of social interaction between two or more parties
• Ability of influencing others
• Outcomes favouring one party over the other

We can therefore, talk of SOCIAL OR INTERPERSONAL POWER as the ability to get

one’s way in a social situation.
There are 4 theories about sources of power; that is, who gets power and how they get
it.
1. EMERSON’S POWER — dependency theory
2. SALANCIK & PFEFFER’S STRATEGIC - Contingency Model
3. MINTZBERG’S observations on the Genesis of Power in organisations
4. FRENCH AND RAVEN’S Bases of Social Power

POWER - DEPENDENCY THEORY

Sociologist Richard Emerson states that the dependence of Actor A upon Actor B is:
• Directly proportional to A’s motivational investment in the goals, which B can help to
achieve.
• Inversely proportional to the availability of those goals outside the A-B relationship.
Therefore, if B has something A strongly wants, and A can only get it from B, B has
power over A. in the context of the organisation, this implies a social relation between
resources that are controlled by one party and desired by another party. Supply of such
resources includes rewards, commodities, goals etc.

STRATEGIC - CONTINGENCY MODEL OF POWER

According to Gerald Salancik and Jeffrey Pfeffer, organisational power is in the hands
of individuals, units and departments that are most important in solving the
organisation’s most critical problems. The most critical problems usually originate or are
likely to originate from environmental uncertainty.

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The theory is saying that those with the most valuable or special expertise for the
survival of the organisation should have the most power.

The researchers add that those who get this power tend to use it to enhance their own
survival by controlling scarce resources:
a) by placing key allies in key positions
b) Through the definition of organisational problems and policies
Otherwise, Salancik and Pfeffer view organisational power rather positively because it is
in the hands of critical problem solvers.

MINTZBERG’S OBSERVATIONS
According to Henry Mintzberg, organisational power has 5 possible sources:
• Control of resources
• Control of technical skills
• Control of a body of knowledge
• Legal prerogatives (exclusive right to impose choices)
• Access to those who have power (based in the 1st four bases)

According to Mintzberg many people can have access to power. In order for one to
become an “Influence,” one has to involve himself/herself in a power game, to be able
to control the organisations decisions and actions. Therefore, besides a power base, for
one to be an “influencer” one must exert energy and political skill.

FRENCH AND RAVEN’S BASES OF SOCIAL POWER

Social Exchange Theory
According to this theory what goes on between different individuals is an exchange of
social commodities. Social commodities are any need a person can have from another
person. Social commodities can be psychological, emotional material. The long list of
social commodities includes such things as love, respect, power, influence, information,
praise, blame, attraction, rejection etc.

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• If what we receive from the other party is more than what we give, we continue the
exchange relationship.
• If what we receive from the other party is equal to what we give, we will continue the
exchange relationship.
• If what we receive from the other party is less than what we give, we will terminate or
alter the exchange relationship.

Five bases of power

The five bases of power were proposed by the social psychologists French and Raven,
in a now-classic study (1959). They developed a scheme of five categories of power
which reflected the different bases or resources that power holders rely upon. One
additional base (informational) was later added.

Legitimate Power

Legitimate Power refers to power of an individual because of the relative position and
duties of the holder of the position within an organization. Legitimate Power is formal
authority delegated to the holder of the position. It is usually accompanied by various
attributes of power such as uniforms, offices etc. This is the most obvious and also the
most important kind of power.

 Guidelines for using legitimate power include

- Make polite clear requests

- Explain the reasons for the requests

- Do not exceed your scope of authority

- Verify authority if necessary

- Follow proper channels
- Follow up to verify compliance.
- Insist on compliance if appropriate
Referent Power

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Referent Power means the power or ability of individuals to attract others and build
loyalty. It's based on the charisma and interpersonal skills of the power holder. Here the
person under power desires to identify with these personal qualities, and gains
satisfaction from being an accepted follower. Nationalism or Patriotism counts towards
an intangible sort of referent power as well. For example, soldiers fight in wars to defend
the honor of the country. This is the second least obvious power, but the most effective.

Referent power is usually greatest for a person who is friendly attractive, charming
and trustworthy

Ways to acquire and maintain referent power

- Show acceptance and positive regard

- Act supportive and helpful
- Use sincere forms of ingratiation
- Defend and backup people when appropriate
- Do unsolicited favors
- Make self sacrifices to show concern
- Keep promises
Expert Power

Expert Power is an individual's power deriving from the skills or expertise of the person
and the organization's needs for those skills and expertise. Unlike the others, this type
of power is usually highly specific and limited to the particular area in which the expert is
trained and qualified.

Guidelines for using expert power

- Explain the reason for a request

- Provide evidence that a request will be successful
- Do not make rash, careless or inconsistent
statements
- Do not exaggerate or misrepresent facts

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 - Listen seriously to the persons concerns and
suggestions
- Act confidently and decisively in a crisis
This type of power is further broken down later on as Information Power.
Information Power
While the difference between expert power and information power is subtle, people with
this type of power are well-informed, up-to-date and also have the ability to persuade
others. Another difference would be that people with Expert Power are perceived by
his/her image of expertise to show credibility (i.e. a qualified doctor in a doctor uniform),
while one with Information Power does not have a strict need to 'look the part of a
professional', but they must keep up to date with new research, and have confidence in
debating, or are persuasive.

Reward Power

Reward Power depends upon the ability of the power wielder to confer valued material
rewards; it refers to the degree to which the individual can give others a reward of some
kind such as benefits, time off, desired gifts, promotions or increases in pay or
responsibility. This power is obvious but also ineffective if abused. People who abuse
reward power can become pushy or became reprimanded for being too forthcoming or
'moving things too quickly'.

Guidelines for Using Reward Power

- Offer the type of reward that people desire

- Offer rewards that are fair and ethical
- Do not promise more than you can deliver
- Explain the criteria for giving rewards and keep it simple.
- Provide rewards as promised if requirements are met.
- Use rewards symbolically
Coercive Power

Coercive Power means the application of negative influences onto employees. It might
refer to the ability to demote or to withhold other rewards. It's the desire for valued

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rewards or the fear of having them withheld that ensures the obedience of those under
power. Coercive Power tends to be the most obvious but least effective form of power
as it builds resentment and resistance within the targets of Coercive Power.

Guidelines for using Coercive power to maintain Discipline

- Explain rules and requirements and ensure that people understand the serious
consequences.
- Respond to infractions promptly and consistently without any favoritism
- Investigate to get the facts before reprimanding
- Except for the most serious infractions, provide sufficient oral and written warnings
- Administer warnings and reprimand in private
- Stay calm and avoid appearing hostile
- Express a sincere desire to help the person comply with role expectations
- Invite the person to suggest ways to correct the problem
- Maintain credibility by administering punishment in non-compliant
- Use punishments that are legitimate

POSSIBLE RESPONSES TO USE OF POWER

Employees are likely to respond to the various power bases in 3 ways:

• Resistance

Employees are likely to respond with resistance to coercive power, particularly:

(i) If it is applied frequently

(ii) If it appears that the leader has no justification to apply it

• Compliance

Employees will perform or behave according to the manager’s wishes. Compliance

implies that they will meet the minimum acceptable level without putting in extra effort.
Legitimate power and reward power are likely to draw the compliance response.

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• Commitment

This is the enthusiastic release of energy and ability in performance by employees.

Commitment is the most desirable outcome of the use of most power. Referent power
and expert power are most likely to draw the response of commitment.

Resistance Compliance Commitment

Use of power can both be positive and negative. Leading, influencing, selling (an idea),
persuading are cases when power is used positively. Crushing, forcing, hurting,
coercing are negative uses of power.

When individuals have personal goals to pursue and have power, they tend to apply
power abuse. This seems to justify Lord Acton’s observation that “power tends to
corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

INFLUENCEABILITY OF THE TARGETS OF POWER

How easily the power holder can influence a target depends on how the following
factors affect the target:

i) Dependency
Dependency is high if the target:

- Cannot escape from the relationship

- Perceives no alternatives
- Values the power-holder’s rewards as unique
ii) Uncertainty
Individuals who are not sure of themselves expose themselves to high influence of the
power holder.

iii) Personality
The personality characteristics that account for high influence ability include:

- High need for affiliation (easily group influenced)

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 - Low tolerance for ambiguity
- Anxiety
iv) Intelligence
Intelligent people are generally good listeners but because the power holder (like
everybody else) may be holding them in high esteem, they become resistant to the
influence of others.

v) Gender
Women in less developed societies seem to subdue to the influence of power holders.
The influence reduces and the society becomes more and more developed.

vi) Age
Young people are susceptible to influence. As age increases this declines.

vii)Culture
Societies that emphasize individuality, dissent and diversity tend to account for less
influence ability. Societies which emphasize cohesiveness (collectivism), agreement
and uniformity tend to promote influence ability.

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ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS (OP)

OP involves intentional acts of influence to enhance or protect the self-interest of

individuals or groups. An emphasis on self-interest distinguishes this form of social
influence. Managers are endlessly challenged to achieve a workable balance between
employees’ self-interests and organizational interests. Political behavior becomes a
negative force when self-interests erode or defeat organizational interests.

Uncertainty triggers political behavior-political maneuvering is triggered primarily by

uncertainty. Common sources of uncertainty within organizations are;

 Unclear objectives
 Vague performance measures
 Ill-defined deciso0n processes
 Strong individual or group competition
 Any type of change
Levels of Political Action

Although much political maneuvering occurs at the individual level, it also can involve
group or collective action as described below;

1. Network level –This is cooperative pursuit of general self-interests. It’s a loose

associations of individuals seeking social support for their general interests
2. Coalition level – It’s an informal group bound together by the active pursuit of a
single issue. When the target issue is resolved (a sexually harassing supervisor
is fired), the coalition disbands.
3. Individual level – Individuals pursue general self interests

Political tactics

Anyone who has worked in organization has firsthand knowledge of blatant politicking.
Blaming someone else for your mistake is an obvious political ploy. But other political
tactics are subtle. Researchers have identified a range of political behavior;

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1. Attacking or blaming others – It is used to avoid or minimize association with failure.
Reactive when scapegoating is involved. Proactive when goal is to reduce
competition for limited resources
2. Using information as a political tool – Involves the purposeful withholding or
distortion of information. Obscuring an unfavorable situation by overwhelming
superiors with information.
3. Creating favorable image – Adhering to organizational norms and drawing attention
to ones successes and influence. Taking credit for others accomplishments
4. Developing a base of support – Getting prior support for a decision. Building others
commitment to a decision through participation
5. Praising others – Making influential people feel so good
6. Forming power coalitions with strong allies – Teaming up with powerful people who
can get results
7. Associating with influential people – Building a support network both inside and
outside the organization
8. Creating obligations (reciprocity) – Creating social debts (I did you a favor, so you
owe me a favor)

COMMON POLITICAL TACTICS USED IN ORGANISATIONS

1. Legitimacy; relying on one’s position of authority to expect that a request is in

accordance with organizational policies and rules.

2. Rational Persuasion; presenting logical arguments and factual evidence that a

request is reasonable.

3. Inspirational Appeals; developing emotional commitment by appealing to target’s

values, needs, hopes and aspiration.

4. Consultation; increasing the targets motivation and support by involving him/her in

deciding how the plan or change will be done.

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5. Exchange; rewarding the target with benefits or favours in exchange for supporting a
request.

6. Personal Appeals; asking for compliance basing on friendship or loyalty.

7. Ingratiation; using flattery, praise or friendly behavior prior to making a request.

8. Pressure; using warnings, repeated demands and threats.

9. Coalitions; enlisting the aid of other people to persuade the target or using or using
the support of others to get the target to agree.

Dubrin’s Strategies for gaining political power in organizations:

i) Maintain Alliance with Powerful People

The formation of alliances or coalition is a very effective approach in gaining and
maintaining power. If important people cannot be reached, the alliance can be with their
secretaries or personal assistants who have easy access to the bosses.

ii) Embrace or Demolish

This is a Machiavellian Principle that people are either allies or enemies. There is no
middle ground. Middle ground groups can gang against you, therefore, are enemies to
be demolished.

iii) Divide and Rule

Those who are divided cannot form a coalition or alliance against you. Divide and rule
leaves one with unrivaled access to resources that would otherwise by competed for.

iv) Manipulate Classified Information

An individual who has valuable information about sensitive areas can gain power. For
example, trade secrets of competitors, sources of potential trouble for the organization
etc.

v) Make a Quick Showing

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This is based on the principle of 1st impression. Be the 1st in making an important
suggestion or improvement. Positive attention is gained, leading to power to do other
more beneficial or long-term undertakings.

vi) Collect and Use of situations

This is playing Father Christmas initially but the operator (power seeker) does is
expecting that beneficiaries owe something in return and will be expected to pay up at
the appropriate time.

vii)Avoid Decisive Engagement

Also known as Fabianism; the Operator opts for evolutionary rather than revolutionary
engagement. The Operator (power seeker) slowly but surely becomes entrenched.
He/she aims to initially gain confidence and trust of others.

viii) Progress One Step at a Time

A.k. — Camel’s Head in the Tent; the power seeker takes one step at a time. He/she
progressively gains a foothold in the company.

ix) Wait for a Crisis

Principle: Things must get worse before they get better. The power seeker waits for a
crisis and uses it to show his/her importance in the scheme of things.

x) Take Counsel with Caution

This is a strategy for retaining power. The power holder avoids practices such as
participation, empowerment or even delegation.

If other people can also take decisions, then they will reduce your power.

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