0% found this document useful (0 votes)
4 views

OB Notes

Uploaded by

karadegourav7997
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
0% found this document useful (0 votes)
4 views

OB Notes

Uploaded by

karadegourav7997
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 96

UNIT – I

Introduction to Organizational Behavior – Importance of Organizational Behavior Key elements


of Organizational Behavior- Foundation or Approaches to Organizational Behavior, Challenges
and Opportunities for OB -Organizational Design and Structure, Basic elements of
Organizational Structure, Types of Organizational Design.

ORGANISATION:
An organization is a group of people working together in a formally organized way to achieve a
common objective. The main objective is profit maximization.
Features of an organization:-
 Group of people
 Formally organized people/structure
 Co-ordination among people
 Rationality
 Purposefully created to achieve a common goal

BEHAVIOUR:
It is how a person behaves. It is an observable and measurable activity of human being.
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Definition: - Stephen P Robbins
„It is a field of study that investigates the impact those individuals, groups; structures have on
behavior within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving
organizational effectiveness‟.
Hence based on the definition we can say that
OB is a field of study
It studies individuals, groups and structures
It applies the knowledge to improve organizational effectiveness.
Therefore Organization Behavior is concerned with two aspects:-
How people behave in an organization?
How their behavior does affect their performance?
Definition–Keith Davis
“Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people act within the
organization”.
Definition: - Stephen P Robbins
1
„It is a field of study that investigates the impact that individual, groups, structures have on behavior
within the organization, for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards improving organizational
effectiveness‟.
Hence based on the definition we can say that
 OB is a field of study
 It studies individuals, groups and structures
 It applies the knowledge to improve organizational effectiveness. Therefore Organization
Behavior is concerned with two aspects:-
 How people behave in an organization?
 How their behavior does affect their performance?

“Organizational Behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people act within the
organization”. Definition – Keith Davis

KEY ELEMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

KEY ELEMENTS OF OB

PEOPLE STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY ENVIRONMENT

OB studies the following aspects

 People: Individuals & Groups

 Structure: Official Relationship

 Technology: Physical, Economic resources

 Environment: Political, Legal an Natural

NATURE OF OB

1. It is just a field of study and not a discipline: OB is accepted science with theoretical
foundation and it serves as a base of research. It is a recent field of study which has its origin
from management. It is broad based and inter disciplinary in nature. Hence it is not a discipline

2
but a field of study.

2. It is interdisciplinary in nature: It is broad based and inter disciplinary in nature because it has
its origin from subjects like psychology, sociology, anthropology, medical sciences, political
science etc., It is normative science and value centered :( cause and effect application):A positive
science analyses only the cause and effect relationship but a normative science analyses the cause
and effect and also its application to achieve organizational results. It is also value centered as it
analyses what is acceptable to employees based on the values they have.

3. It is applied science: The principles of OB are proven and can be applied to solve
organizational problems.
4. It has humanistic approach: OB considers human feelings, their values and attitudes and
considers that human beings are not machines and they too are cared for.

5. It has optimistic approach: It has positive approach and views that the employees well
contribute positively to achieve the objectives of the organization. It is directed towards
achievement of organizational objectives: Organizational objectives are given more importance
than individual objectives.

6. It has rational approach: It believes that there is a reason being every behavior of man and
works on the same formula.
7. It is developmental in nature: It aims at the development of its employees and helps them to
attain their goals.
8. It is part of management science: OB is a study that has emerged from the discipline of
management .Hence is a part of management science.
9. It is both science and art: OB is both science and art .It is science because, like science OB is
also a systematic body of knowledge, its analyses is also consistent in nature, it can be
systematically explained and critically evaluated, the analyses are based on the findings of
management theorists.
It is art because it is related to bringing desired result, it is application of skills like leadership
skills, managerial skills, training skills etc.,
10. It has total systems approach: It takes all variables in consideration. It studies individuals
and groups in formal and informal relations in organizations.

FOUNDATIONS OF OB / BASIC CONCEPT OF OB

1. Individual differences exist: Every individual has a unique personality, which is stable in
3
nature. Hence each person is different from the other based on his physiological, psychological

and social characteristics. Three aspects should taken care while studying human behavior:
2. Behavior is caused: Behavior is what a person does and it is cause and effect relationship. It
means that there is a reason behind every single behavior on any individual. Hence the cause
should be evaluated by the manager in an organization.
3. Behavior is complex: Though OB believes that behavior is caused, yet it is very difficult to
understand human behavior.
4. Value of a person: Human value is given importance. It means one should be treated with
respect and dignity. Values and attitudes should be considered. Men at workplace should be
considered

5. Whole person concept


The concept states that a individual employed by the organization is cannot be separated form his
personal life aspects .Though an organization employs a person‟s skill & brain in his
organization, yet it is a fact that an individual cannot be separated from his home life and work
life.
6. Role of a person

A role is a pattern of actions expected of a person in activities involving others. Each individual
plays different roles in his life time.( Parent, son , Friend , Spouse, team member, supervisor,
follower, advisor, consumer, investor etc., ).Hence it becomes necessary for him to understand
the role clearly and act accordingly.
7. Difference between individual behavior and group behavior:

Individual behavior may be good but group behavior may be bad .Group behavior may be good
but Individual behavior may be bad. As Individual behavior may vary form group behavior,
human behavior should be studied in both the aspects.

SCOPE OF OB
OB can be studied in three different levels: -

1. Individual-
 Intra Individual- Understanding human behaviour i.e. how and why an individual
behaves and to understand the factors affecting human behaviour
4
 Inter Individual- To understand the working relationships, role analysis and
transaction analysis of individual with others.
2. Group
 Intra Group – understand the group pressure on individuals , influence of group norms on
individuals , communication process in organization.
 Inter Group – Relationship between groups, achievement of group objectives and group
objectives.,
3. Organization:
 Intra- Organization- use of human power in organizations , leadership qualities,munication in
organization.
 Inter –Organization- organization change, external relationships, Development standards
and concepts for future, Scientific and rational approach to Human Behavior.
Disciplines contributing to Organizational Behavior

1. Sociology: It is the study of people in relation to their fellow human beings, The field of
sociology has made valuable contributions in the study of group of individuals, group
dynamics, formation of groups, communication, formal and informal organizations etc.,
2. Anthropology: It is the study of societies to learn about human beings and their activities.
It helps us to understand values, attitudes and behavior between people in different
regions and organizations.
3. Economics: It is the science that deals with the production, distribution, and consumption
of goods and services, or the material welfare of humankind.
4. History: It is the study of the origin and evolution of mankind. It help us to understand
the behavior of people and their origins
5. Political science: It helps us to study the current political and legal scenario and the role
of the study of human behavior under the current situations.

5
ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN AND ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
Organizational design
Organizational design is the process of aligning the structure of an organization with its
objectives, with the ultimate aim of improving efficiency and effectiveness.
A company will choose their organizational structure based on their needs. The organizational design
will reflect a structure that aligns to the business at any given moment in time.
More than designing a structure, it involves:
 Understanding the imperative for change and the environment
 Understanding the business processes, workflows, roles and responsibilities, volumes of work,
activity analysis and resources
 Designing and testing new models or structures
 Planning and managing the transition from the old structure to the new
 Implementing and monitoring the change
ELEMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN
1. Departmentalization
Departmentalization is a process wherein jobs/teams are combined together into functional units
called as departments on the basis of their area of specialization, to achieve the goals of the
organisation . It also refers to how the organizational structure groups the company's functions,
offices and teams. Departments are usually sorted on the basis of the kinds of tasks the workers in
each department perform. It can also be divided based on product or brand lines, geographic
locations or even customer needs.
2. Chain of Command
The chain of command in a company refers to the different levels of command within the
organization. It starts with the top position such as CEO or the business owner, all the way down to
the front-line workers. Companies create a chain of command in order to flow instructions
downward and accountability upward by providing each level of workers with a supervisor.
3. Span of Control
An organization‟s span of control defines how many employees each manager is responsible for
within the company. There is no single type of span of control that‟s ideal for all companies or
even for all businesses in a specific industry. The optimal span will depend on a number of factors,
including the size of the workforce, how the company is divided into departments and even the
company‟s specific business goals and strategies. Based on the manager‟s individual style or

6
approach, the span of control could range from three or four to 15 or more. Of course, managers
who are placed higher up the chain of command typically have a tighter span of control, as they are
directly responsible for middle-manager or team leaders.
4. Centralization and Decentralization
Centralizing authority in a business means concentration of power with the higher authority where
the middle management is left with little to no input about the goals the company sets. This system
is typical in larger corporate organizations, as well as at companies in more conservative
industries.. A decentralized system allows all levels of management the opportunity to give input
on big-vision goals and objectives. Larger, company-wide decisions are still generally reserved to
C-level officers, but departmental managers enjoy a greater degree of latitude in how their teams
operate.
5. Work Specialization
In any business, employees at all levels typically are given a description of their duties and the
expectations that come with their positions. In larger companies, job descriptions are generally
formally adopted in writing. This approach helps ensure that the company‟s specific workforce
needs are met, without any unnecessary duplication of effort. Work specialization ensures that all
employees have specific duties that they are expected to perform based on each employee's work
experience, education and skills. This prevents an expectation that employees will perform tasks
for which they have no previous experience or training and to keep them from performing beneath
their capacities.

6. Formalization
Finally, organizational structures implement some degree of formalization. This element outlines
inter organizational relationships. Formalization is the element that determines the company‟s
procedures, rules and guidelines as adopted by management. Formalization also determines
company culture aspects, such as whether employees have to sign in and out upon arriving and
exiting the office, how many breaks workers can take and how long those breaks can be, how and
when employees can use company computers and how workers at all levels are expected to dress
for work.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE
An organization structure explains the position and official relationships between the various
individuals working in an organization

7
TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES
1. Line organizational structure
2. Line and Staff organizational Structure
3. Functional organizational Structure
4. Matrix organizational Structure
5. Project organizational Structure
6. Committee organizational Structure

LINE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE

It is the simplest form of organization Structure. It resembled old military organizations.


 Line organization is direct and people at different levels know to whom they are accountable.
 Any enterprise that starts small probably starts with line type of organization. . There is a
vertical downwards flow of authority and an upward flow of responsibility in such an
organization
 The authority flows directly from the Works Manager to Superintendent to Foreman and from them
to workers.
 The authority is greatest at the top and reduces through each successive level down the
organizational scale. It is known as military organization.
 Here the superior at the top makes decisions and communicates his decisions and assigns certain
work to his immediate subordinate.

 There is a vertical downwards flow of authority and an upward flow of responsibility in such an
organization.

8
Merits:
 There is no complicated relationship in this organization . it can easily be understood by
anyone. It clearly defines the authority and responsibility of each individual.
 Each person knows clearly whom he should report to and who should report to
him. There is unity of command i.e. a subordinate gets orders from one superior
only.
 It provides scope for better supervision. This ensures greater discipline.
Demerits
 It lacks specialization..
 The line managers are overburdened with lot of work..
 It is always downward communication as result the subordinates may lose
initiative. The line managers enjoy monopoly in the matter of decision making.
Line organization has been found to be very good for small organization that employs few workers

1. LINE AND STAFF ORGANIZATION:


In this type of organization staff experts are specialists in specific areas, assist the line personnel.
The experts do not have the powers to command and subordinates other than those who are under their
direct control .
The staff experts to can advice the line personnel on certain matters but they do not have authority to
take decision on vital issues.

9
It is for the line manager to decide whether to accept the suggestion of the staff specialist or not.
The staff experts provide relief to the line personnel when the latter are over burdened with work.

Merits
Staff experts provide support to the line personnel. This provides line executives to perform well.
The line executive gets relief from work burden.
 The suggestion given by the staff experts helps to take better
decisions.
 As every executive performs only a specific task he is able to do it with full
concentration.
Demerits
 Conflicts often arise between the line and staff
executives.
 The staff experts do not have the authority to make decisions they can only
advice .
 The line and the staff pattern of the organization would enhance the cost of
cooperation.

2. FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE


 Functional organization structure is were “authority rests with the functional heads; the
structure is sectioned by departmental groups.

 ”The organization is divided into a number of functional areas.

10
 This organization has grouping of activities in accordance with the functions of
anorga nizationsuch as production, marketing, finance, humanresource and so on.

 The specialist in charge of a functional department has the authority over all other employees for his
function.

 It is a kind of Formal Organization whose structure is based on organizing resources to


perform specialized tasks or activities in order to attain the goals of organization.

 This structure emerges from the idea that the organization must perform certain functions in
order to carry on it‟s operations.
 Functional structure is created by grouping the activities on the basis of functions required for the
achievement of organizational objectives.
 It is suitable for large scale organization.
Characteristics of Functional Organization
1. Functional authority relationship
2. Limited span of management
3. Line and staff division
4. Organization growth through emphasis on sub goals
5. Specialization on functional areas

Merit
1. It promotes specialization, each department specialize in a particular line of work
2. Each functional head looks after specific activities so no burden.

11
3. Better control.
4. each individual concentrates on a particular task so maximum efficiency
Demerits
1. more number of departments and divisions
2. difficult to control and co ordinate
3. delay in arriving in decisions
4. Expensive to adopt

4. MATRIX ORGANISATION STRUCTURE

 Matrix organisation combines two structures – functional departmentation and project


structure.
 Functional department is a permanent feature of the matrix structure and retains authority
for overall operation of the functional units.

 Project teams are created whenever specific projects require a high degree of technical skill
and other resources for a temporary period.
 Project team form the horizontal chain and functional departments create a vertical
chain of command.
 Members of a particular team are drawn from the functional departments and are placed
under the direction of a project manager who has the overall responsibility of a particular
project. Matrix organizations are used in industries with highly complex product systems for
example, aerospace industry where project teams are created for specific space or weapon
systems. Suitable where a large number of small projects will have to be managed.
 A matrix organization is also known as a multiple command system as it has two chains of
command, ie the flow of authority is both vertical and horizontal .
 These departments have to share the resources with the rest of the organization.
Advantage
 Is oriented towards end results.
 Professional identification is maintained
 Pinpoints product-profit responsibility
Disadvantages
Conflict in organization authority exists.
Possibility of disunity of commandexists

12
Requires manager effective in human relations

5. PROJECT ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE


 The project structure consists of a number of horizontal organizational units to complete
projects of a long duration.
 A team of specialists from different areas is created for each project.
 Usually this team is managed by the project manager.
 The project staff is separate from and independent of the functional departments.
Advantages
Special attention can be provided to meet the complex demand of the project.
It allows maximum use of specialist knowledge thus chances of failure are very less.
Project staff works as a team towards common goal which results in high motivation
level for its members.
Disadvantages
As the project staff consists of personnel from diverse fields, it might be quite challenging for the
project manager to coordinate among them.

13
6. COMMITTEE ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE:

Committee Organization is a group of persons entrusted with a certain tasks. The committee
organization members are expected to discuss certain problem and come with a solution.. Eg. board
of directors in a company. The committee may meet at regular intervals and discuss the progress of
work at a various levels.
Characteristics of committee organization
 A committee is a group of persons there should be at least two persons.
 There is no limitation on the maximum number of persons.
 However, if number of persons rises above seven, communication tends to become centralized
because committee members do not have adequate opportunity to communicate directly with
one another.
 A committee is charged with dealing with specific problems and it cannot go in for actions in
all spheres of activities.

 There are strictly defined jurisdictions within which a committee is expected to justify its
existence. Beyond these limited spheres a committee is doomed to fail as an organ of action.
 Members of the committee have authority to go into details of the problems.
 This authority usually is expressed in terms of one vote for each member.
 A committee have the authority either to take a final decision or it may merely decision or it
may merely deliberate on problems without authority to decide.

14
 A committee may be constituted at any level of organization.
 Moreover, the members of a committee may be drawn from various levels. Usually in such a
case, all the members of the committee enjoy equal authority
Types of committees:
A) Standing Committee: is never dissolved, there may be changes in membership. The committee
remains always. Eg.. The board of directors in a company.
B) Temporary Committee: this one is created for a specific purpose. As soon as the purpose has
been accomplished the committee stands dissolved. Eg. if there is a strike in the organization it forms
a committee.
C) Executive Committee: a Executive committee is one that has powers to make important
decisions for the enterprise. Eg. Board of directors.
D) Advisory Committee: this committee can only make suggestions. It does not have the powers
to make decisions.
E) Formal committee: this is one that is constituted as per the values and policies of the
organization. It has hierarchy. It functions according to the lines of authority.

F) Informal committee: this is the one that is not constituted as per the rules and policies of the
organization. Such a committee is the outcome of informal meetings of the workers to discuss their
work related problems.
Advantages:
1. Scope for group judgment
2. Secure proper co ordination
3. Committee members feel motivated when they participate in thediscussion
4. Committee functions as a democratic organization.
5. Problems that cannot be solved by individual will have to be referred to acommittee.
Disadvantages:
1. Expensive
2. More time for discussions
3. Sometimes compromise decision made.

15
UNIT II - INDIVIDUAL IN THE ORGANIZATION:
Personality concept – Determinants, personality traits- Perception- Concept-Process, Distortion,
Selectivity, Implications- Learning –Theory, Reinforcement principles, Behavior Modification,
Creativity, Attitude and Values-Formation, Measurement, Change, Beliefs and Values

PERSONALITY
The term personality has been derived from the Latin term person which means to „speak
through‟. It refers to the mask worn by actors in ancient Greece or Rome in plays which signifies
the role which the actor displays to the public. Personality of an individual is unique personal
and a major determinant of his behaviour.

Meaning: Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with
others.

Definitions: Carl Rogers views personality in terms of self, an organized, permanent,


subjectively perceived entity.

Gordon Allport defines - “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of those
psychological systems that determine his unique adjustment to his environment.”

It refers to what an individual really is, as an internal „something‟ that guides and directs all
human activities.

“It is better to consider individual aspects of personality as bricks and total personality as a house
made of bricks” James

Factors Influencing Individual Behavior


 Implications of Individual Differences:
 Every Individual has his/her own character

16
 Personality of each individual is unique hence it should be properly diagnosed by a
manager. Manager should understand the differences and manage employees
accordingly.
 He should act differently to different people.
 He should assign job, motivate and lead every employee accordingly.

Foundations of Individual Behavior Physiological Variables


 Age
 Gender
 Physiological Characters
 Heredity
 Psychological Variables
 Intelligence
 Learning
 Personality
 Attitude
 Motivation
 Social Cultural Variables
 Value systems
 Cultural Background
 Traditions
Organizational Variables
 Type of Organization
 Type of supervision
 Type of subordinates
 Type of Co- employees
 Type of incentives
 Training
 Social environment at work place
 Physical and Job variables

17
 Method of work
 Type of work
 Physical job variables
 Condition of working equipment‟s

DETERMINANATS OF PERSONALITY
Enormously the following five factors of personality are contributing to the formation and
development of human personality.

 Biological Factors
 Social Factors
 Cultural Factors
 Physical Environment
 Situational Factors

Biological Factors of Personality: Biological factors of personality are very important for the
formation of human personality. Children are born in a family; inherit many traits and features
from their parents. Children get physical and psychological characteristics from their parents
which becomes a part of their personalities. Some of the inherited traits are courage, coward,
intelligence, weakness etc.

Social Factors of Personality: When an individual interact with other persons in his/her group
give and take relationship takes place and it affects the personality of an individual social factors
of personality are responsible for the formation of personality, when an individual has group
experience and contact with others personality of an individual is influenced by others may be
bad or good but depends on the association in which he/she keeps. In a society every person
plays a specific role and status

Cultural Factors of Personality: Both material as well as non-material culture affects


personality of an individual. An individual living in his/her culture adopts the traits consciously
or unconsciously and acts accordingly. Culture of any society determines the behaviors and

18
personality of an individual and he/she is expected to act according to the culture. A person
follows all the social norms of a culture which results in the formation of good personality while
non-conformity to the cultural rules develops abnormal or bad personality. So, the culture in
which an individual seeks satisfaction adjusts himself/herself and develops personality.

Physical Environment: Physical environment also determines the personality of an individual.


Environmental factors include land, river, mountains, hills, forests, plain area, atmosphere etc
which affect the personality to be good or bad, healthy or weak. All the feelings, emotions, ideas,
attitudes, habits and behavior as well as body structure are the result of physical environment of
to which an individual belongs. For example, body structure, physique, color and health of the
rural people are different from urban people. These people have different environment due to
which they develop variety of personalities. The people living in cities have facilities and
modern ways of life which creates to develop delicate bodies and minds as compare to the rural
people who are deprived of these facilities.

Situational Factors of Personality: Situational factors of personality also have a complete share
in the formation of personality of an individual. situational factors of personality are charging
according to the social situations. Every person face may situations in his life which enables
him/her to change his/her behavior. For example, a teacher may be rigid and strict with students
but may not with his/her family. An officer may behave with the subordinates differently as
compare to his/her friends. Personality is not the result of only one factor but every factor is
responsible to give complete share in its formation. A person behave and his/her personality
exists when interacts with environment, culture, society, parents, friends and to those who come
in contact by chance.

THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

PSYCHOANALYTICAL THEORY
Sigmund Freud and other associates formed this theory. Clinical techniques were used to develop
this theory. Patient‟s behaviour was studied to derive this theory. According to this theory Man is
motivated by unforeseen forces than he is controlled by conscious and rational thought. Freud

19
says that personality of a person is determined by a constant interplay of the three parts: The Id,
The Ego, The Super Ego.

Personality is made up of 3 parts:

The Id: It is the unconscious emotional part . It is a sea of biological urges and drives where
different instincts exist. E.g. Hunger, thrust, sex (libido).

It works on the principles of pleasure and pain. Any person seeks to satisfy his raw, animalistic
needs and urges, obeys no laws and rules, wants to seek immediate gratification of biological or
instinctual needs. It would proceed unchecked to satisfy motives. As an individual matures he
learns to control id.

Ego: - It is the logical and conscious part or the rational practical and factual side. It evaluates on
the principle of what is possible and not possible. It works on the principle of right and wrong. It
keeps id in check through realities of the environment by intellect and reason.
Super Ego: It is the ethical moral side. The individual not only cares about right and wrong but
also care about the societal norms. Hence it controls the above two parts and directs them
constantly.

SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORY:
Human personality depends on his inter-relationship in society. This model suggests that human
behavior results from three predominant- interpersonal orientations.

Based on which Individual can be categorized as:

Aggressive people: Motivated by the need for power. They want good positions more power.
They go for challenging jobs and want to raise high in positions. They are not attached with the
society and hence go against the society
Detached people: These are self-sufficient people who are not more attached with the society.
They are happy in their solitude. They do not depend on others. They are away from the society.

20
Complaint people: These people are more depended on society. They live to be with friends and
families. They seldom quit organization. They do not have any lust for position, power and
money. They move towards the society.

TRAIT THEORY : Some psychologists have tried to understand personality on the basis of
individual‟s traits. This theory attempts to understand how a set of set of personality variables
exerts on one‟s behavior. This theory defines that individual personality is composed of definite
predisposition attributes called traits. Traits in an individual define his personality. Traits are
stable, traits are common but may vary is absolute quantities in individuals and also traits can be
inferred form the measurement of behavioral indicators. The author Catell has developed a set of
traits through construction of tests on various individuals. These traits can be classifies as surface
traits and source traits. The source traits defines the basic trait in individual and the surface traits
define the qualities in an individual based on his source trait.
Source traits
(Deep inner traits in an individual)
Affectionthymia Vs Sizothymia
(Meaning: Good nature and trust full ness VS critical and Conspicuous)
Ego Strength Vs Emotionality
(Meaning: Maturity and realism Vs Immaturity and Evasiveness) Dominance Vs Submissiveness
Cheerfulness and Depression
Surface traits (visible traits in an individual)
Wise foolish Affectionate – Cold Sociable-Exclusive Honest- Dishonest

SELF THEORY : Carl Rogers has developed this theory. This theory is also described as
phenomenological which studies individual‟s subjective experience, feelings and his concepts of
world and self. In this theory the following four factors are included:-

Self-image: what you think you are?


Ideal self: What you want to be?
Looking glass self: What you think other think of you?
Real Self: What you really are?

21
Self-image: It is the way one sees oneself. Every person has certain beliefs about who he is and
these belief form his self image.

Ideal self: It denotes the way one would like to be. Any individual admires personalities (family
members or outsiders) in his environment and tries to imitate them. This forms the basis for his
ideal image.

Looking glass self: It is a perception about how others perceive one self. It if formed on the
basis I of the interactions and conversations of others.

Real Self: There are three stages in which an individual perceives about himself. The self-image,
ideal self and looking glasses self. All the three help the individual to know about himself based
on which he get tips to develop his personality, evaluates himself and adjusts his self-image with
other three. It is a comprehensive inner behavioral process.

TYPES OF PERSONALITY
Introvert and Extrovert
Based On Characteristics, There Are Two types of personality, i.e. introvert and extrovert. When
a person is reserved and does not open up easily, he or she is said to be an introvert. An introvert
is a person who remains isolated, or enjoys the company of few closed ones.

 Self-contained
 They think before speaking.
 Recharges with solitude
 Spends more time with themselves
 Inward focused
 Have few friends
 Do not accept change easily.
 Openly communicate about themselves with people they know and trust.
 Deeply concentrate for long period.

22
An extrovert is an outgoing and outspoken person who enjoys being around and talking to
people. Extrovert is a social, talkative person and makes friends quickly. An extrovert is an
outgoing and outspoken person who enjoys being around and talking to people.
 Gregarious
 They reason things out by speaking them.
 Recharges with social interactions
 Spends more time with family and friends
 They reason things out by speaking them.
 Recharges with social interactions
 Spends more time with family and friends
 Outward focused
 Have many friends
 Accept change easily.
 Openly communicate about themselves with anyone.
 Get distracted easily.

Type A and Type B personality Type A Personality

Type A personality implies a temperament which is stress prone, concerned with time
management. They are ambitious, rigidly organised, hard-working, anxious, highly status
conscious, hostile and aggressive. Individuals who possess Type A personality have the
following behavioural patterns:

 They move, walk and eat fast.


 Great at multitasking.
 Self-driven feels guilty when relaxing.
 Feels impatient with the pace of things, dislikes waiting.
 They have a busy schedule and does not have time to enjoy life.
 Uses nervous gestures, like clenched fist or banging hand on the table.

23
 They are high-achievers, perform beyond par.
 They do not easily accept failure.
Type B Personality
Type B personality is one that is less prone to stress, easy going, work steadily, enjoy
achievement, modest ambition, and live in the moment. They are social, creative, thoughtful,
procrastinating. Individuals who possess Type B personality are associated with the following
behavioural traits:

 They are not concerned about time.


 They compete for fun, not to win.
 Mild-mannered.
 Never in a hurry and has no pressing deadlines.
 Does not brag.
 Focus on quality rather than quantity.
 Laid back and live stress-less life.

Judging and Perceptive
Judging (J) and Perceiving (P) are how you interact with the world outside yourself, either in a
structured or flexible manner. Judging and Perceiving are opposite preferences. A person‟s
natural tendency toward one will be stronger than the other.

Judging: Judging people think sequentially. They value order and organization. Their lives are
scheduled and structured. Judging people seek closure and enjoy completing tasks. They take
deadlines seriously. They work then they play. The Judging preference does not mean
judgmental. Judging refers to how a person deals with day-to-day activities.

Judging Characteristics
 Decisive
 Controlled
 Good at finishing
 Organized

24
 Structured
 Scheduled
 Quick at tasks
 Responsible
 Likes closure
 Makes plans

Perceiving (P) : Perceivers are adaptable and flexible. They are random thinkers who prefer to
keep their options open. Perceivers thrive with the unexpected and are open to change. They are
spontaneous and often juggle several projects at once. They enjoy starting a task better than
finishing it. Deadlines are often merely suggestions. Perceivers play as they work.
Perceiving Characteristics
 Adaptable
 Relaxed
 Disorganized
 Care-free
 Spontaneous
 Changes tracks midway
 Keeps options open
 Procrastinates
 Dislikes routine
 Flexible
PERSONALITY INFLUENCE ON ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Self Esteem: Self Esteem refers to the feeling of like or dislike for oneself.” “Self Esteem is the
degree of respect a person has for himself.” This trait varies from person to person as people
differ in the degree to which they like or dislike each other.
Self Monitoring: “Self monitoring is a personality trait that measures an individual‟s ability to
adjust his or her behaviour to external situational factors”.
Locus of control : Locus of control refers to an individual‟s belief that events are either within
one‟s control are determined by forces beyond one‟s control.

25
People with internal locus of control believe that they are the masters of their own fate. Where as
people with external locus of control take life as it comes. They see themselves as pawns of fate,
believing that whatever happens to them in their lives is due to their luck or fate.
Machiavellianism: Machiavellianism is the ability to influence others for ones benefit. High
Machiavellianism refers to a personality trait which sees a person so focused on their own
interests they will manipulate, deceive, and exploit others to achieve their goals.
Risk taking : The propensity of people to assume risks or avoid risks varies from person to
person depending upon the willingness of the people to take chances. This human trait will affect
the decision making capability of a manager. This individual personality trait will determine how
long will it take a person to take a decision or how much information will be needed before he
takes a decision
Introvert and extrovert : These two terms are generally associated with the interpersonal
behaviour of an individual and his sociability. Extroverts are gregarious and sociable individuals
while introverts are shy, quiet and retiring. It has been observed that introverts and extroverts
people have different career orientations and require different organisational environment to
maximize performance. Extroverts are more suitable for positions that require considerable
interaction with others that is why managerial positions are dominated by extroverts.
Type A and Type B : People who are impatient, aggressive and highly competitive are termed
as „Type A‟ personality. But those who are easy going, laid back and non-competitive are termed
as „Type B‟ personality. Type „A‟ people tend to be very productive as they work very hard.
Their negative side is that they are very impatient, good team players, more irritable and have
poor judgment. Type „B‟ people do better on complex tasks involving judgment and accuracy
rather than speed and hard work
Self monitoring : As self monitoring refers to the individual‟s ability to adjust his or her
behaviour to external factors, individuals with high self monitoring can show considerable
adaptability in adjusting their behaviour to external, situational factors than low self monitoring

PERCETION

Perception means perceiving, i.e., giving meaning to the environment around us. It can be
defined as a process which involves seeing, receiving, selecting, organising, interpreting and

26
giving meaning to the environment Perception is the process by which an individual selects,
organizes, and interprets information to create a meaningful picture.

Definition by Stephen P Robbins : Perception can be defined as “the process by which


individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their
environments.”

Importance of perception : Perception is very important in understanding human behavior


because every person perceives the world and approaches life problems differently. Whatever we
see or feel is not necessarily the same as it really is. When we buy something, it is not because it
is the best, but because we take it to be the best.

If people behave on the basis of their perception, we can predict their behavior in the changed
circumstances by understanding their present perception of the environment. One person may be
viewing the facts in one way which may be different from the facts as seen by another viewer.
With the help of perception, the needs of various people can be determined, because people‟s
perception is influenced by their needs.

Perception is very important for the manager who wants to avoid making errors when dealing
with people and events in the work setting. This problem is made more complicated by the fact
that different people perceive the same situation differently. In order to deal with the
subordinates effectively, the managers must understand their perceptions properly.

Perception can be important because it offers more than objective output; it ingests an
observation and manufactures an altered reality enriched with previous experiences.

Perception builds character (not necessarily good or bad character) that defines different roles
individuals fall into the clown, the hypocrite, the self-righteous, the victim, etc..
It is vitally important if we want to get along with Others to try to see things from their
perspective or walk in their shoes for a while. If we walk in their shoes we will gain a new
perspective about things and in that understand the other and also can love and help the other

27
more appropriately.

Nature of perception
 Perception is the intellectual process.
 Perception is the basic cognitive or psychological process.
 Perception becomes a subjective process and different people may perceive the same
event differently.

Perception and Sensation: There is a distinction between sensation and perception. Sensation is
the response of a physical sensory organ. The physical senses are vision, hearing, tough, smell
and taste.
These senses are bombarded by stimuli and reactions in particular sense organ take place because
of these, e.g., of sensation may be reaction of eye to colour, ear to sound and so on. Sensation
percedes perception.

Perception is much more than sensation. Perception depends upon the sensory raw data. The
perceptual process adds to or/and subtracts from the sensory world. Perception is determined by
both physiological and psychological characteristics, of the organism.

Sensation only activates the organs of the body and is not affected by such psychological factors
as learning and motives. Activation of eyes to see an object is sensation and the inference what is
being seen is perception.

28
PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

.
Perceptual Process.

Perception is a process of receiving, selecting, organising, interpreting, checking and reacting to


stimuli. This is like an input-through put-output process in which the stimuli can be considered
as 'inputs' transformation of 'input' through selection, organization and interpretation as 'through
puts' and the ultimate behavior/action as 'output'. The whole perceptional process can be
presented as follows: These are explained one by one

Receiving Stimuli: The first process in the perception is the presence of stimuli. The stimuli are
received from the various sources. Through the five organs. It is a physiological aspect of
perception process. Stimuli may be external to us (such as sound waves) and inside us (such as
energy generation by muscles).

Selection of Stimuli: After receiving the stimuli or data, some are selected. Others are screened
out. Two types of factors affect selection of stimuli for processing: external and internal factors.
External factors relate to stimuli such as intensity of stimuli, its size, movement, repetition, etc.
Internal factors, relate to the perceiver such as his/her age, learning, interest, etc. Normally, he
will select the objects which interest him and will avoid that for which he is indifferent. This is
also called 'selective perception'.

Organization of Stimuli : Organizing the bits of information into a meaningful whole is called

29
"organization". There are three ways by which the selected data, i.e., inputs are organized. These
are :
(i) Grouping, (ii) Closure and (iii) Simplification.

Grouping: In grouping, the perceiver groups the various stimuli on the basis of their similarity
or proximity. For example, all the workers coming from the same place may be perceived as
similar on the basis of proximity.

Closure: When faced with incomplete information, people fill up the gaps themselves to make
the information meaningful. This may be done on the basis of past experience, past data, or
hunches. For example, in many advertisements, alphabets are written by putting electric bulbs
indicating the shape of the concerned alphabets but broken lines. In such cases, people tend to fill
up the gap among different bulbs to get meaning out of these.

Simplification: People identify main stimulus features and assesses how they are organized. He
interprets a stimulus situation, the perceiver simples the information.

Interpretation: After we have attended to a stimulus, and our brains have received and
organized the information, we interpret it in a way that makes sense using our existing
information about the world Interpretation simply means that we take the information that we
have sensed and organized and turn it into something that we can categorize. By putting different
stimuli into categories, we can better understand and react to the world around us.

Action: The perceptual process ends with the resultant behaviour caused after interpreting the
data received through sensory organs.

Perception Distortion

Perceptual distortions are incorrect understanding or abnormal interpretation of a perceptual


experience. A perceptual distortion occurs when a persons responses to stimuli varies from how

30
it is commonly perceived. Perceptual distortion can relate to either sensory or psychological
disorders, medication or drugs, or physical damage to the brain or sensory organ.

Perceptual Distortion:

Personality: Personality of the perceiver greatly influences the perception of other persons.
Personality influence perception because of 2 reason .First, the perceiver tries to project his
personality attributes in others, known as projection. Second, the perceiver tries to fit his attitude,
beliefs, expectation to reality known as process of self-fulfilling.

Mental Set: Mental set is the tendency on has to react in a certain way to a given situation. In
organization setting, people have tendency to perceive about others on the basis of this mental set
which cause misperception. For ex. Suppose you are a contestant in a track meet and are
positioning yourself in your starting blocks as you hear the preparatory command, get ready, get
set when you hear the command, Go you take off at once since you are already set and ready to
this command.

Attribution: Attribution is the process by which we make sense of our environment through our
perception of our causality. Attribution is simply the process of attaching or attributing causes or
reason to the actions and events we see. Causality is usually described in terms of internal
causality and external causality. For ex. We may explain a particular individuals success or
promotion with reference to his/her superior skills and knowledge (internal causality) or with
reference to luck, 'friends in high places‟ and coincidence (external causality).

HALO Effect: The term halo effect was used by the psychologist Edward Thorndike in 1920. A
HALO Effect is a judgment based on single striking characteristics such as an aspect of dress,
speech, posture, or nationality. HALO Effect can be negative as well as positive.
• For ex. It is a natural human response on a meeting a stranger, to make judgment about the kind
of person they are and whether we will like them or not.

Stereotyping: Stereotyping occurs when the perceiver judges or perceives a person on the basis

31
of characteristics of the group to which he belongs. The person is not perceived as an individual
with specific set of his characteristics but on the basis of his group characteristics.
• For ex. There are some stereotyping at the international level like; Japanese are industrious,
Italian are quick tempered American are materialistic and ambitious.

First Impression: It is very common that people evaluate others on the basis of first impression.

• The evaluation based on first impression may be correct if it is based on adequate and
significant evidence. However, since first impression evaluation is not based on adequate
information, it may not be true reflection of peoples being perceived.
• This can be corrected by more frequent interaction, though erasing of first impression
evaluation is not that easy.

Factors Influencing Perceptual process

External Factors
 Size : Bigger size attracts the attention of the perceiver
 Intensity : A loud sound, strong odor or bright light is noticed more as compared to a soft
sound, weak odour or dimlight.
 Repetition : A repeated external stimulus is more attention getting than a single one.
Advertisers use this principle.
 Novelty and Familiarity : A novel or a familiar external situation can serve as attention
getter.
 Contrast : It is a kind of uniqueness which can be used for attention getting. Letters of
bold types, persons dressed differently than others, etc., get more attention.
 Motion : A moving object draws more attention as compared to a stationary object.
Advertisers use this principle.

Internal Factors

32
 Self-concept : The way a person views the world depends a great deal on the concept or
image he has about himself. The concept plays an internal role in perceptual selectivity.
 Beliefs : A person's beliefs have profound influence on his perception. Thus, a fact is
conceived not on what it is but what a person believes it to be.
 Expectations : These affect what a person perceives. A technical manager may expect
ignorance about the technical features of a product from non-technical people.
 Inner Needs : The need is a feeling of tension or discomfort, when one thinks he is
missing something. People with different needs experience different stimuli. According
to Freud, wishful thinking is the means by which the Id attempts to achieve tension
reduction.
 Response Disposition : It refers to a person's tendency to perceive familiar stimuli rather
than unfamiliar ones.
 Response Salience : It is the set of disposition which are determined not by the familiarity
of the stimulus situations, but by the person's own cognitive predispositions. Thus, a
particular problem may be viewed as a marketing problem by marketing personnel, a
control problem by accounting people and human relations problem by personnel people.
 Perceptual Defence : It refers to the screening of those elements which create conflict and
threatening situation in people. Denying the existence or importance of conflicting
information.

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.

Nature of Learning : Nature of learning means the characteristic features of learning. Learning
involves change; it may or may not guarantee improvement.It should be permanent in nature,
that is learning is for lifelong.The change in behavior is the result of experience, practice and
training. Learning is reflected through behavior.

Factors Affecting Learning

33
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.

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.

THEORIES OF LEARNING :
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
 Classical Conditioning Theory

The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an unconditioned

34
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.

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.

35
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.

Cognitive Learning Theory


Cognition defines a person‟s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding about
himself and environment.

22
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.
 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.

23
Attitude:
An attitude is a positive; negative or mixed evaluation of an object that is expressed at some
level of intensity. It is an expression of a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of a person, place,
thing or event.
Attitudes involve a complex organization of evaluative beliefs, feelings, and tendencies toward
certain actions. How much we like or dislike something determines our behavior towards that
thing.
According to Stephen P. Robbins – “Attitude is manner, disposition, feeling and position with
regard to a person or thing, tendency or orientation especially in the mind.”
Frank Freeman said, “An attitude is a dispositional readiness to respond to certain institutions,
persons or objects in a consistent manner which has been learned and has become one‟s typical
mode of response.”

Characteristics of Attitude are;


 Attitudes are the complex combination of things we tend to call personality, beliefs,
values, behaviors, and motivations.
 It can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable.
 All people, irrespective of their status or intelligence, hold attitudes.
 An attitude exists in every person‟s mind. It helps to define our identity, guide our
actions, and influence how we judge people.
 Although the feeling and belief components of attitude are internal to a person, we can
view a person‟s attitude from his or her resulting behavior.
 Attitude helps us define how we see situations, as well as define how we behave toward
the situation or object.
 It provides us with internal cognitions or beliefs and thoughts about people and objects.
 It can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitude is those that we are consciously
aware of an implicit attitude is unconscious, but still, have an effect on our behaviors.
 Attitudes cause us to behave in a particular way toward an object or person.
 An attitude is a point of view, substantiated or otherwise, true or false which one holds
towards an idea, object or person.

24
 It has aspects such as direction, intensity, generality or specificity.
 It refers to one‟s readiness for doing Work.

“Attitudes is a mental and neural state of readiness organized through experience, exerting a
directing or dynamic influences upon the individuals response to all objects and situations with
which is related” --- ALL PORT

“Attitude is the persistent tendency to feel and behave in a favorable or unfavorable way towards
some object, person, or ideas” REITZ

“Attitude is a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something is


one‟s environment” SCHERMERHOSM ET AL

FEATURES OF ATTITUDE:-

Attitude affects the behavior: An individual‟s behavior is affected by putting him ready
responds favorably or unfavorably to things in the environment. Attitudes are acquired through
learning over the period of time: the process of learning starts right from childhood and
centenaries throughout the life of an individual.

Attitudes are invisible: They constitute a psychological phenomenon which cannot be observed
directly. They can be observed only by observing the behavior of an individual.

Attitudes are pervasive: Attitudes are pervasive and every individual has some kind of attitude
towards the object situation or person around them.

FORMATION OF ATTITUDES: Attitudes are not inherited. They are acquired and learned by
the people from the environment in which individual interacts. The information of attitude is
broadly classified into two sources:

25
 Direct experience

 Social learning

Direct Experience:-One‟s direct experience with an object or person serves as a powerful


source of his/her attitude formation ,i.e. attitudes are formed on one‟s past experiences.
E.g.:- Some of you mav like HR, some other may like finance and few may like marketing. This
is an attitude which is formed by studying the subject and getting a fair knowledge from the
same. Attitudes derived from direct experience are powerful, stronger, durable and difficult to
change.
Social learning: The process of deriving attitude from family, peer , groups, religious,
organization and culture is called social learning.In social learning an individual acquires
attitudes from his environment in an indirect manner. Attitudes are derived from peers also.
Social learning starts from early age when children derive attitudes from their parents,
friends, teachers, educational institutions etc. Individuals acquire much of their attitudes by
merely observing their models that they admire and respect. The observe over hears. Their
models expressing their opinion or watches them displaying their behavior and that reflects their
to align with their models.
An individual‟s association with others also shapes his Attitude. Culture of a country / state also
plays a vital role in shaping one‟s attitude.
Learning attitudes involves 4 processes:

Attention: Attention must be focused on model.


Retention: What was observed from the model must be retained.
Reproduction: Behavior must be practiced again and again
Motivation: The learner must be motivated to form the model.

Type of Attitudes:-
Though an individual can have numerous attitudes, but OB focuses on job related attitudes.Job
related attitudes are of 3 types:

26
 Job satisfaction
 Job involvement
 Organizational commitment Job satisfaction:-
Job satisfaction refers to an individual pleasurable or positive emotional state towards his/her
job. Job satisfaction is related with five specific dimensions of job pay, work itself, promotion,
opportunities, supervision and co-workers, positive attitude towards lead to job satisfaction.

Job Involvement:- It is the degree to which employee immense themselves into their jobs invest
time energy

Organizational commitment:- It is attitude of the employees towards their organization. It is


the measure of the employees willingness to remain with a firm in the future,

MEASUREMENT OF ATTITUDE:
Measurement in its broadest sense is the assignment of numerals, to objects or events.The
methods are classified in to four types:-
 Self report
 Indirect tests
 Direct observation technique
 Psychological Reaction Techniques.

Self Report:
This technique usually elicits response from employee through questionnaires dealing with their
feelings about their work and related matters. This report is carried out through the use of
attitude surveys.Attitude surveys contain a set of statement or question to be answered by the
employee. A definite assigns to each answer. Scaling terms assigned are tailored to obtain the
information what managers actually want.
E.g.:-Attitude scaling might be dislike statement. My job makes the best use of my abilities.

Strongly Agree 5

27
Agree 4
Undecided 3
Disagree 2
Strongly disagree - 1.
Indirect tests:- These tests may not be brought directly to the employees notice. But the test will
be fixed and employees‟ performance would be evaluated with out his conscience. Indirect test
may be also conducted where the employee will answer to questions which may seem to be very
simple in answering but these answers when evaluated will help the employee to know his
attitude.

Direct observation technique:-It is very simple where the employee will be directly observed on
his work and his attitude will be known.

Psychological Reaction Techniques:- Employees psychological reaction towards work and


work environment will be judged and their attitudes will be observed to understand his/her
attitude towards job aspects.

How to change attitude:- Fill in the information gap: Unfavorable attitudes can be changed by
filling the information which may change his attitudes.

Use of fear: Low and high degree fear arousal may lead to problems only median level fear
would help the employee to change his attitude.

Resolving discrepancies: -People have different kind of attitude and behavior and so by proper
solving of discrepancies one‟s negative attitude could be changed.

VALUES : Values are convictions and frameworks of philosophy of an individual on the basic
of which he judges what is good or bad. desirable or undesirable, ethical or unethical.
Rokeach a noted psychologist has defined values as “Global beliefs that guide actions and
judgments across a variety of situations”

28
He further defines, Values represent basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct (or end
state of existence) is personality or socially preferable to an opposite mode of conduct (end state
of existence)

Features :

Part of culture: Values basically comes from our culture which constitutes of ideas, beliefs of
society.

Learned response: Values our called learned response which is one acquires from the society.

Passed from one generation to another: Values are circulated and are passed through
generation to generation by specific groups and institutions it starts from family educational
institutions, religions and ethnic institutions

Social Phenomenon: An individual way of thinking which influence by his society and family is

Difference between Attitudes and Values.

Attitudes Values
Attitude exhibit predisposition to response. Values represent judgmental ideas
They refer to several beliefs relating to a specific about what is right
object or situation They represent single belief foe used on
These are one‟s personal experiences objects or situations
These are derived from social cultural
mores.

Similarities between attitudes and values

29
 Attitudes and values are learned or acquired from the same source experience with
people, object and event
 Attitudes and values affect cognitive process and behaviour of people. Attitudes and
values are endurable and difficult to change.
 Attitudes and values influence each other and, more often than not, are used
interchangeably.

Types of values :
Rokeach , a pioneer is studying human values conducted a research survey on human values.One
the basis of his research findings he identified two basic type of values.
 Terminal values
 Instrumental values
Terminal Values : Terminal values represent the desirable end-state of existence, the goals that
an individual would like to achieve during his life time.
Instruments values : Instrumental values : It reflects the way to achieve goals another words,
these represent preferable modes of behaviour or means of achieving one terminal goals.
Rokeach identified is terminal & 18 instrumental names :

Terminal Values Instrumental Value

1. World piece 1. Honesty

2. Happiness 2. Forgiving nature

3. Equalty 3. Helpfulness

4. Achievement 4. Self control

5. Inner peace 5. Independence

6. Beauty in nature 6. Obedience

7. Family security 7. Ambition.

8. Self respect 8. Open mindedness

30
9. Salvation 9. Cleanliness

10. Friendship 10. Affection and love

11. Mature love 11. Politeness

12. Pleasure 12. Rationality

13. Freedom 13. Responsibility

14. Wisdom 14. Courage

15. Prospect 15. Competence

16. National Security 16. Cheerfulness

17. Social Respect 17. Intelligence

18. Exciting life 18. Imagination

All port and his associates had identified six types of values .All port and his associates
developed a different type of questionnaire containing a description of different situations. The
respondents were told to give their preference to the questions for which ranks were fixed
accordingly. Based on the answers given and the rank accordingly allotted by the respondents.

Value was categorized into six types

Theoretical: Accords high importance on the discovery of truth through a critical and rational
approach.
Economics : Emphasizes on the usefulness and practicability money
Aesthetic : Places the top most importance on form and harmony
Social : Accords the highest value to the love a affection of mankind
Political : Assigns more interest to the acquisition of power and influence.
Religions : Pay more values or importance to the religion they belong

Formation of values Research has proven that, 40% of one‟s values is genetically determined

31
Rest of the values are acquired through experience with parents school-mates friends, peers,
models & organizations Culture also influences in the formation of values.

Values & Ethics:


Though sometimes people consider values and ethics synonymous and use them interchangeably.
But they are different. Values are beliefs that affect an individuals fundamental ideas about what
is good or bad. Ethic is the way the values are acted out ethical was of behaviour is acting
according is one personal values.

Values and Behavior:


 Values serve as foundations for attitudes.
 In practice, individuals enter organization with a pre-conceived motion of what ought and
what ought not to be. These motions are value later.
 Independent hold their own interpellations of right and wrong – This affects their
behaviour.
 Values affect both attitude and behavior
 Values once formed are very difficult to change and are in challenge to modern
management.

32
U N I T – III I N T E R P E RS ON A L B E H AV IO R A ND M O TIV A T IO N
Motivation - Theories of Motivation (Maslow, McClelland, McGregor Herzberg, Vroom, Porter &
Lawler, Argyris), Implications of Employees - Nature and meaning of Interpersonal Behavior, Concept
of Self, Transaction Analysis (TA), Benefits and uses of Transactional Analysis, Johari Window Model.

MOTIVATION
Motivation is the willingness to exert high level of the effort towards organizational goals , conditioned
by the efforts ability to satisfy same individual needs. Stephen p Robbins.
Need satisfaction process
Unsatisfied Need----tension---drive ---search behaviour--- satisfied need--- reduction in tension
An unsatisfied need created tension that stimulates drives with in an individual.
These drives generate an search behaviour to find particular goals and attain them.
If the goal is attained, the need is satisfied and the tension is reduced.
Since the organizational goals are important , the individuals must be compatible to the org. goals.
Motivation is anything that induces a person to act in a desired manner.
Motivation is what makes a person to work and satisfaction is the resultant happiness. It follows a
cause and effect relationship.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
1. MASLOW‟S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY OFMOTIVATION
2. HERZBERG‟S TWO FACTOR THEORY OF MOTIVATION
3. MCGREGORS‟S THEORY „X‟ AND THEORY „Y‟
4. MCLLELAND „S NEED THEORY
5. VROOMS VALENCE EXPECTANCY THEORY
6. PORTER AND LAWLER‟S MODEL OFSATISFACTION

MASLOW’S NEED HIERARCHY THEORY OF MOTIVATION:


According to this theory man is motivated based his needs. Any individual has five categories of needs.
The need emerges in a hierarchal order i.e. from lower order needs to higher order needs.
The five levels of needs are
Lower order needs
1. Physiological needs
2. Security needs
3
3
3. Social needs

Higher Order Needs


4. Self esteem needs
5. Self actualization needs
Physiological needs:
This needs is considered to be the starting point of motivation . These are needed for the survival and
maintenance of human life. Eg: Food, Clothing, Shelter, Air Water and also other necessities of life.
Security needs:
After an individual‟s physiological need is satisfied, his next level of need for security emerges, i.e.
he wants the assurance of maintaining an economic level, in terms of job security of income source,
provision for old age, insurance against risk etc.
Social needs:
Man is social being. He is interested in conversation, sociability, exchange of feelings , grievances
and ideas . He wants companionship, recognition and belongingness. Simply he needs the comfort of
people/society to fulfill this need.
Self esteem need (status):
Egoistic needs take inward or outward orientations. Inward directed ego needs embrace factors like self
confidence, independence, achievement, competency, knowledge, success. These needs have to be
earned by an individual; through his intelligence and hard work.They want recognition in the society
where they live. On the other hand outwardly directed ego needs are concerned with prestige, status
respect and it could be gained in the form of position and control over economic, social and
political power form the societyor organization.

Self Actualization needs (self fulfillment needs):


The final or the priority model is the need for self -fulfillment or the need is the need to fulfill what a
person considers to be his mission in life. After a man‟s other needs are fulfilled, his desire for personal
achievement increases. He wants to do something, which is challenging and gives his full energy to
work and win. This need gives him psychological satisfaction if achieved.
Maslow felt that these needs have definite sequence of domination.
 second level needs does not dominate until first level need is satisfied and this would continue
till the last hierarchy.
 Hence based on this 5 levels of need Maslow establishes that man is a social animal, he always
wants something the other.

3
4
(condition is know what his need is at that particular point of time) He can be motivated
accordingly.

HERZBERG’S TWO FACTOR THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Herzberg and his fellow men conducted a research on zoo engineers and accountants who
worked in 11 different firms in Pittsburg area. These men were asked to recall specific incidents in
their experience which made them feel good or bad about their jobs. These findings set as a model to
derive this theory.
According to this theory Herzberg has defined two distinct factors of motivation

Herzberg‟s motivation theory is based on two types of factors.


These factors
Satisfiers (motivation factors)
Dissatisfiers (maintenance or hygiene factors).
Hygiene factors include the factors of company policy and administration, salary, supervision,
working conditions, interpersonal relations, status, job security, and personal life.
The motivators or satisfiers are therefore related to job content. They include the factors like
achievement, recognition, challenging work, advancement, responsibility and growth in the job. Their
existence yields feelings of satisfaction.

5
Hygiene factors
It was found that hygiene factors were those factors, which if provided will not motivate the
employees, but if not provided will definitely de-motivate the employees

Motivators :
They are factors which when not provided the employee will not be ware if it , but if provided the
employee gets highly motivated and works effectively.

Herzberg‟s theory
a. It is pure a psychological theory.
It can be applicable to modern organization.
It is practical and easy to understand.
Identification of hygiene factor is avaluable
Disadvantages of Herzberg‟s theory:
The theory emphasizes on job satisfaction rather thanmotivation.

6
credit, but when things go wrong they blame external factors
 They theory has over simplified the complex working condition

Difference between Maslow’s theory and Herzberg’s theory

Maslow‟s theory Herzberg‟s theory

1. He has divided the structure into five 1. He has divided the theory into two 2
layers. factors
2. Emphasis is on needs 2. Emphasis is on satisfaction
3. Hierarchy is followed 3. All need arise at the same time
4. Pay is a motivation 4. Pay comes under the hygiene factor
5. It is a descriptive theory 5. It is a prescriptive theory
6. Relevant to people of all cadre 6. Relevant to study managerial cadre
7. A satisfied needs is not a motivator 7. Satisfied need also continue to motivate
people.

MCCLELLAND’ S NEEDS THEORY


McClelland‟s Needs Theory was proposed by a psychologist David McClelland, who believed that
the specific needs of the individual are acquired over a period of t ime and gets molded with one‟s
experience of the life. McClelland‟s Needs Theory is sometimes referred to as Three Need theory or
Learned Needs Theory.

McClelland has identified three basic motivating needs, Viz. Need for Power, Need for Affiliation and
Need for Achievement and, along with his associates performed a considerable research work on
these basic needs.

1. Need Need for Power


2. Need for Affiliation
3. Need for Affiliation

Need for Power (n-pow):

Power is the ability to induce or influence the behavior of others. The people with high power needs
seek high- level positions in the organization, so as to exercise influence and control over others.

8
Generally, they are outspoken, forceful, demanding, practical/realistic - not sentimental, and like to
get involved in the conversations.

Need for Affiliation

People with high need for affiliat ion derives pleasure from being loved by all and tend
to avoid the pain of being rejected. Since, the human beings are social animals, they like
to interact and be with others where they feel, people accept them.

Thus, people with these needs like to maintain the pleasant social relationships, enjoy
the sense of intimacy and like to help and console others at the time of trouble.

Need for Achievement (n- ach):

McClelland found that some people have an intense desire to achieve. He has identified
the following characteristics of high achievers:

 High achievers take the moderate risks , i.e. a calculated risk while performing the
activities in the management context. This is opposite to the belief that high achievers
take high r isk.
 High achievers seek to obtain the immediate feedback for the work done by them,
so as to know their progress towards the goal.
 Once the goal is set, the high achiever puts himself completely into the job, until
it gets completed successfully. He will not be satisfied until he has given his 100%
in the task assigned to him.

A person with a high need for achievement accomplishes the task that is intrinsically
satisfying and is not necessarily accompanied by the material rewards. Though he wants
to earn money, but satisfaction in the accomplishment of work itself gives him more
pleasure than merely the cash reward.

Hence, McClelland‟s Needs Theory posits that the person‟s level of effectiveness and motivation is
greatly influenced by these three basic needs.

MCGREGORS’S THEORY ‘X’ AND THEORY ‘Y’


The theory is based on assumptions about employees by the manager or employer
One basically negative- Theory‟X‟

9
McGregor has generated two different theories based in Employer‟s /Boss‟s assumption on
employees. But it is also to be noted that employees tend to become what the boss thing about them.
McGregor prefers theory „X‟ to theory „Y‟. It is also concluded that participative decision making,
challenging jobs and decentralized form of environment and supportive style of leadership would
motivate employees.
According to this theory a Boss holds either positive or negative assumptions about their employees.

THEORY ‘X’ THEORY ‘Y’

1. Subordinates dislike work 1. Employees always have a natural


2. Employees avoid responsibility liking for work.
3. Employees are incapable and hence 2. Employees will seek for responsibility
have to be guided and accept them
4. Employees have to be forced or 3. Employees have considerable skills
controlled to make them work. 4. Employees have natural inclination to
5. Employees are self centered and they work and they have self control
are indifferent to the organization 5. Employees are not self centered and are
6. Boss follows a centralized system of concerned about organizational goals.
work 6. Boss tends to keep the system in
7. Boss are suspicious decentralized manner.
8. Boss follows authoritative style. 7. Boss trust employees
9. Boss is task oriented. 8. Boss supports employees
9. Boss are task oriented.

PROCESS THEORIES
VROOMS VALENCE EXPECTANCY THEORY

This theory was propounded by Vrooms, and this theory states about the importance of factors which
lead to motivation.
The theory of based on the formula: Motivation(F) = Σ Valence x Expectancy

11
Key words Valence Expectancy, 1st level outcome , 2nd level outcome, Instrumentality

Valence:
It is the strength of individuals preference for a particular outcome. It ranges from -1……0…...... +1.
where when
V is positive( +1) = Individual prefers to attain the outcome.
V is neutral ( 0)= Individual is indifferent towards the outcome.
V is negative ( -1) = Individual does not prefer to attain the outcome.
Expectancy:
It is the probability that a particular outcome will lead to the desired first level outcome.
The probability will range from (0 --------- 1). If the probability is high , the score is high and it is low
when the probability is low. Expectancy relates to the effort to the first level outcome.
1st level outcome :
It is the efforts put based on the expectations of getting the same, which means performance will be
based on the persons expectancy towards perceived reward. i.e. promotion.
2nd level
outcome:
It is the result acquired out of the expectations and effort. e.g. getting promotion

Instrumentality:
It is the belief that the performance is related to rewards. Probability attached by the individual to
each possible performance. It refers to the degree to which the first level outcome leads to second

13
1. Motivated to get a promotion
2. Promotion expectancy = high/moderate/ low
3. Effort - high/moderate/ low or No effort
4. Out come 1- Guaranteed promotion
5. Out come 2- May / May not get a promotion
6. Out come 3- No chances of getting a promotion
Hence the theory states that it is the motivational force in an individual which makes him
Believe that he can attain a particular out come, based on this expectancy he performs and he gets
the rewards.

PORTER AND LAWLER’S MODEL OF SATISFACTION


Lyman Porter and Edward Lawler came up with a comprehensive theory of motivation, combining the
various aspects. Porter and Lawler's model is a more complete model of motivation. This model has
been practically applied also in their study of managers. This is a multivariate model which explains the
relationship that exists between job attitudes and job performance. This model is based on four basic
assumptions about human behaviour :
(i) As mentioned above, it is a multivariate model. According to this model, individual behaviour is
determined by a combination of factors in the individual and in the environment.
(ii) Individuals are assumed to be rational human beings who make conscious decisions about their
behaviour in the organizations.
(iii) Individuals have different needs, desires and goals.
(iv) On the basis of their expectations, individuals decide between alternative behaviours and such
decided behaviour will read to a desired outcome.
The Various Elements of Porter and Lawler Model
1. Effort,
2. Performance and
3. Satisfaction.
Let us briefly discuss the main elements of the model :
1. Effort: Effort refers to the amount of energy an employee exerts on a given task. How much effort an
employee will put in a task is determined by two factors: (i) value of reward and (ii) perception of effort-
reward probability.
2. Performance : One's effort leads to his/her performance. Both may be equal or may not be. However,
the amount of performance is determined by the amount of labour and the ability and role perception of
the employee. Thus, if an employee possesses less ability and/or makes wrong role perception, his/her

15
performance may be low in spite of his great efforts.
3. Satisfaction: Performance leads to satisfaction. The level of satisfaction depends upon the amount of
rewards achieved. If the amount of actual rewards meet or exceed perceived equitable rewards, the
employee will feel satisfied. On the contrary, if actual rewards fall short of perceived ones, he/she will
be dissatisfied.
Rewards may be of two kinds - intrinsic and extrinsic rewards.
Examples of intrinsic rewards are such as a sense of accomplishment and self-actualization.
Extrinsic rewards may include working conditions and status. A fair degree of research supports that
the intrinsic rewards are much more likely to produce attitudes about satisfaction that are related to
performance

It is a complete model of motivation. The research covered the applicability to managers. They brought
about the relationship between job attitude, job performance and job satisfaction. The whole model is
designed on the traditional assumption that there is a positive relationship between satisfaction and
performance. It is a multivariate model to which helps to explain the relationship between satisfaction
and performance. Porter and Lawler have attempted to measure variables such as the values of possible
rewards, the perception of effort-rewards probabilities and role perceptions in deriving satisfaction.
They recommended that the managers should carefully reassess their reward system and structure. The

16
in organizations In this model of motivation or effort does not directly lead to performance but factors
like one‟s personal traits , role perceptions , the value he has given for a particular rewards and his
perception towards his abilities to achieve the reward work together to achieve the reward. Ones he has
achieved what he has expected to achieve, he is satisfied or else the process continues.

1
7
UNIT IV GROUPS IN THE ORGANIZATION

Group - Concepts, Types, Features, Norms and Behavior, Stages, Group Cohesiveness - Leadership
- Concept, Theories - Traits, Behavioral, Situational, Contingency, Styles, Managerial Grid - Conflict
- Process, Types, Conflict Management.

LEADERSHIP
Leadership can be defined as an art or process of influencing people so that they will strive willingly
and enthusiastically toward the achievement of group goals.
Leadership means to develop willingness to work enthusiastically with zeal and confidence.
Difference between a Leadership and a Management

FACTORS LEADER MANAGER

Source of power Has Personal abilities Is authority delegated

Focus Has vision and purpose Operating results

Approach Transformational Transactional

Process Inspiration Control

Emphasis Collectivity Individualism

Futurity Proactive Reactive

Type Formal and informal Formal

Importance of leadership
Motivates employees
1. Creates confidence in employees
2. Builds morale among employees
3. Leadership skills
4. Ability to use power effectively and in a responsible manner
5. Ability to comprehend that human beings have different motivation forces at different times and in
different situations
6. Ability to inspire
7. Ability to act in a manner that will develop a climate conducive to responding to an arousing

1
8
Fundamental understanding of people
Ability to inspire followers to apply their fullest capacities to a project.
Developing a particular style of leadership
Leadership styles (3 styles of leadership)
1. Autocratic style
It is also known as authoritarian directive or monothetic style. In this style a manager centralizes
decision-making power in himself. He structures the complete situation for his employed and they do
what they are told. Here the leadership may be negative because followers are uniformed, insecure,
and afraid on the leader‘s authority. There are three categories of autocratic leaders.
 Strict autocrat: He is very strict, his style or method of influencing his subordinates is through
negative motivation i.e. by criticizing his subordinates, imposing penalty etc.,
 Benevolent Autocrat: He centralizes decision making power in him, but his motivation style is
positive. He can be effective in getting efficiency in many situations. Some people to work under
strong authority structure and they derive satisfaction by this leadership.
 Incompetent Autocrat: Sometimes superior adopt autocratic leadership style just to hide their
incompetence. Because they feel in other styles they may be exposed before their subordinates.
However, this style cannot be used for a long time.
Advantages of autocratic style of leadership
 Employees who like to work under strong authority structure and they derive satisfaction by this
leadership
 Provides strong motivation and reward to a manger exercising this style.
 Help in quick decision making.
 Less competent employees also have scope to work based on the instruction given to them by their
leaders.
Disadvantages of autocratic style of leadership
 People dislike strict style of leadership and they get demotivated.
 Frustration, low morale and conflict develops in the organsiation , jeopardizing organizational
efficiency
 Employees loose their individuality and creativity because of continuously listening and following
the instruction given by the leaders.
Democratic or Participative Style :
The style is democratic, consultative or ideographic. It involves a mental and emotional involvement
of an employee in a group situation which encourages him to contribute to group goals and share
responsibility in them. The manager in this style emphasizes on consultation and participation of his
subordinates. Hence a participative manager decentralizes on consultation and participation of his
subordinates. Subordinates are also broadly informed about the conditions affecting them and their
jobs. He also encourages, accepts and appreciates the ideas and suggestions given by them.
Advantages
 Employees‘ feels recognized
 It a highly motivating technique for employees,
 Raises the morale and attitude of employees.
4
 Productivity increases.
Disadvantages
 Employees may not have understood the organizational process and may intervene and give
suggestions
 Employees who are not ready to interact and participate may create problems.
4. Free rein Style
It means giving complete freedom to the subordinates. In this style manager once determines the
policies, programs and limitations for action and the entire process is left to the subordinates. Group
members perform everything and the manager usually maintains contacts with outside persons to
bring the information and materials which the group needs .This type of leadership is suitable in
certain situations, where the manager can leave a choice to the group. This helps the managers to
develop independent personality. However contribution of the manager is almost nil. Hence this style
is rarely used in organization.

GROUPS IN ORGANISATION
In any organization, the work of an individual is influenced by that of another. The employees,
therefore, have to work together in a co-ordinate manner to complete any task. In other words, it is
teamwork that makes goal attainment possible.

There is a no. of groups that one can find in a work place. These groups contribute either directly
or indirectly to the success of the organization. The behavior of an individual is significantly
influenced by the group to which he belongs. It is, therefore, more appropriate to discuss group
behavior in the context of organizational behavior.

MEANING OF GROUP:
A group is a cluster of persons who have come together to pursue activities of common interest. A
group may consist of any no. of persons. But the group members must have continued interaction
with and must be psychologically aware of one another.

DEFINITION:
According to Edgar Schein, ―a group is an aggregation of people who interact with each other,
are aware of one another, have a common objective, and perceive themselves to be a group‖

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GROUP:
1. A group is always a conglomeration of persons
2. The members know and interact with one another
3. The members come together to pursue certain activities of common interest.
4. Each member perceives that he is a part of the group

NEED FOR GROUP FORMATION


5
Nearness and interaction:
In the workplace, the employees work close to each other. During their course of work, they may
have to interact with one another. Such an environment may induce them to form groups.

Capacity to influence:
The capacity of each individual in the organization to influence another by reason of work- or work-
related issues is another factor that results in the formation of groups.
Need for security:
One of the main reasons for the formation of groups in the organization is the need for security. If
the employer creates an environment in which the employees feel insecure, they have to come
together as a group, namely, the union to safeguard their interests.
Common interest:
People with common interest, likes and dislikes often come together. This happens in an
organization too. The subject matter of interest may be something connected with their work or it
can be anything like politics, sports, hobbies, etc.
Recognition:
The recognition that is not normally available to a person, when he is alone becomes a member of
certain group. A person who feels it all his endeavors must be recognized and appreciated will
identify himself with some group in the organization.
Power:
Employees derive much greater power collectively, i.e., as members of union, than as individuals.
In an organization where trade unions are absent or not powerful, belonging to a small informal
group gives an individual a feeling that the group will not let him down when he faces a crisis.
Further, a person who has no formal authority in the organization may be in the position to influence
the members of an informal group by becoming its leader.
To get rid of delay:
Formal organization promotes delay in view of hierarchy and longer channels of communication.
To get rid of the delay in the completion of certain specific tasks,executives, sometimes, may have
to meet and interact with employees casually and informally.
An informal group of subordinates and superiors, thus, exists within a formal organization.

TYPES OF GROUPS:
Formal Groups:

6
a formal group. Such has a hierarchical structure. The members of the formal group are allotted
definite task. They have adhered to certain rules and regulations. A formal group is also known as
a command group.
Every superior has subordinates whom he delegates authority to enable them to carry out the task
assigned. For the performance of the task by the subordinates, the superior is answerable to his own
superior.
Formal groups can be permanent as well as temporary. Command groups and permanent
committees are examples of permanent formal groups. A task force created for specific purpose is
an example of a temporary formal group.
Informal Groups:
An informal group is the one which is unofficially created. It rises owing to personal relationships
between the individuals of the organization. Factors such as friendship, language, religion, etc.,
influence the formation of informal groups.
An informal group may sometimes perform a task that the formal group has failed to perform. In
formal groups maintain and strength the values and beliefs of their members. They provide the
feeling of security to the members and help them interact with one another. They further strive to
solve their work-related problems.
Membership Groups:
A membership group is one to which an individual actually belongs whether or not he is satisfied
with the norms, values, beliefs and practices of such a group.
Reference Groups:
A reference group is one with which the individual actually identifies himself. In other words he
would like to be associated with such a group
In-Group:
An in-group is one which we belong. The members of an in-group have certain values, beliefs,
ideals, and norms that act as a binding force.
Out-Group:
The out-group is one to which we do not belong. It consists of members who hold the values, beliefs,
ideals and norms that are quiet opposed to those of the members of the in- group.
Open Groups:
An open group is the one that is in a constant state of change. Its membership keeps fluctuating,
i.e., existing embers may leave and new members may join. The group accepts the idea of the new
members and may slowly give p certain old practices. In view of such a trend, the open group may
have plans and proposals only for a shorter period of time.
Due to its peculiar characteristics, the open group faces conditions of imbalance and instability.

DIFFERENT STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENT:

8
Forming Stage: The forming stage is marked by great deal of uncertainty over the purpose,
structure and leadership of the group. At the end of this stage, inter-personal relationships are
established and members begin to identify themselves with the group.
Storming Stage:
This stage is characterized by conflicts and confrontations among the group members. Such
conflicts may arise due to differences in perception. A condition like this may sometimes lead to
group split.

Norming Stage:
At this stage one person emerges as a powerful leader. Such a development paves a way for what
is called group cohesion. A strong sense of group identity and comradeship also develops.
Performing Stage:
This stage is characterized by teamwork, role clarity and task accomplishment. It exhibits the
highest level of group maturity. Conflicts among the members are resolved through group
discussion
Adjourning Stage:
This stage is relevant for work teams, task forces and such similar groups that have only a limited
task to perform. As soon as the task is completed, the activities of the group are wrapped up.
Group Norms
‗Group norms‘ are the rules and regulations prescribed for the group members. In other words these
are the do‘s and don‘ts. These reflect the feelings, beliefs, values and attitudes commonly shared
by the group members.
Group norms provide the standard against which the behavior of a member is evaluated. A member
violating norms may have to face disciplinary action. A member of a trade union, for example, who
does not respond to strike call given by the union, may be expelled.

Characteristics of group norms:


1. Norms explain the characteristics of a group
2. These relate to the behavior of the members that is considered desirable.
3. Norms provide the standard or basis against which the behavior of the group members is assessed.
4. Norms are applied to all the members of the group

GROUP COHENSIVENESS:
Group cohesiveness refers to the extent to which the members of the group are attached to each
other and willing to remain in the group.

Factors Influencing Cohesion:

10
The extent to which the members of the group interact with each other determines groupcohesion.
Differences in option are bound to rise in any workplace. Such differences have to be sorted out
through discussions and deliberations. The greater the interaction among the group members the
better will be the cohesiveness.
Threat:
The kind of threat the members face both from internal and external environments can influence
group cohesion. The greater the threat the better will be the cohesiveness. This is so because, the
members know very well that they have to stand united failing which they cannot survive.
Leadership:
The quality of leadership can be an important determinant. If the leader is capable, he will be able
to secure cohesion easily among members.
Conviction:
If there is always a sense of conviction among the group members on the decisions reached, it is an
indication that cohesion s absolute. If a few members try to thrust tier ideas on their group, such a
conviction may not exist.
Values:
The extent to which the group members share their values and attitudes is another determinant. If
every member starts acting as per his value system, securing group cohesiveness will become
difficult.
Size of the group:
The size of the group can be yet another important determining factor. When the size of the group
increases, securing cohesion among members will become difficult. This happens because there
may not be consensus among members on certain issues owing to the large size of the group.
MEASURES TO INCREASE GROUP COHESIVENESS:
Inducing agreements on group goals:
The work of every employee influences and is influenced by the work of others. In the work place
the employees, therefore, have to work as a team. If only they work in a co-ordinated manner, it
will be possible for them to carry out any task.There must be consensus among the members on the
goal for the accomplishment of which they work together. The manager has to play a vital role in
this regard.

Increasing the membership of like minded persons:


Every organization has a unique culture that is reflected in the beliefs and attitudes of the personnel
and also in the work methods and practices. The behavior of the employees, therefore, must reflect
its culture. While recruiting new employees, it must be ensured that they are in a position to
understand and appreciate the organization‘s culture.If some members behave in an altogether
different manner without bothering about the customs and values of the organization, it is sure to
affect group cohesiveness. Steps must, therefore, be taken to induct and retain only those whose

12
Increasing interaction among the members:
Any issue has to be discussed in a forum and no attempt shall be made to thrust one‘s view on
others. Before evolving decisions on any important matter, the manager must provide opportunities
for all his subordinates to discuss the same and arrive at a consensus.

Group cohesiveness depends to a greater extent on how often and how effectively the members
interact before reaching an agreement on any issue.

Taking care of group size:


If the group is unwieldy, securing consensus among the members is sure to become difficult. It is,
therefore, necessary to take care of the group size.Encouraging competition among groups:
Another measure to increase group cohesiveness is to encourage healthy competition among
different groups in the organization. For example, the salesmen deployed in the southern region
may compete with those deployed in the northern region. This will induce the salesman in both the
groups to evolve some strategy and work with better understanding.

Rewarding the group instead of the individuals:


If any group performs well, it is important to reward the group as a whole instead of rewarding a
few although they have made a significant contribution when compared to others. This may help to
avoid ill-feelings among the group members and may in fact bring them closer.

Isolating the group members from rival groups:

When there are rival groups, e.g. Rival trade unions, it may sometimes be necessary to isolate the
group members from the rival groups. For this purpose, the leader of the group may have to caution
his members always so that they do not get carried away by the claims of the rivals and continue to
be loyal to their group.

DECISION-MAKING AND THE GROUP:


Decision making is the process of selecting one alternative from among a no. of alternatives
available. The need for decision making will arise only when there are options. If there is only one
way of doing a task, there is nothing to decide.

According to Haynes and Massie, ‗decision making is the process of selection from a set of
alternative courses of action which is thought to fulfill the objective of the decision-problem more
satisfactorily than others.‘

In the words of George Terry, ‗decision making is the selecting of an alternative, from two or more
alternatives, to determine an opinion or a course of action.‘

PROCESS OF DECISION MAKING:


14
IDENTIFING AND UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM:
The first step in the process of decision making is to identify and understand the actual problem. If
only the actual problem is identified, it will be possible to provide remedy by evolving a suitable
decision. Sometimes, the symptom is misunderstood as the actual problem and an attempt is made
to find a solution to it.
MAKING AN ANALYSIS OF THE PROBLEM:
Once the actual problem is identified, the next step is to make a detailed analysis of the same.
Analysis of the problem requires data that may be obtained from both internal and external sources.
IDENTIFYING ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION:
After the problem has been analyzed in detail, the next step is to develop alternative solutions. Any
organizational problem has many solutions. It is, therefore, necessary that the decision maker
identifies the alternative solutions.
EVALUATING THE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION:
After the alternative solutions have been identified, the next step is to make an evaluation of the
same. Evaluation of alternatives is done by seeing the pros and cons of the alternatives.
SELECTING THE BEST SOLUTION:
At this stage the solution considered the best and the most viable one, under the circumstances, are
selected. In addition to the merits of each alternative solution, the following factors too influence
the selection the best alternative:
 Resources available
 The values and beliefs of the decision maker
 Opinions of the staff
 Past experience, etc.
IMPLEMENTING THE DECISION:
After the final decision has been made, the next step is to implement the same. Implementing the
decision is done by communicating the same to all concerned. The responsibility of caring out the
decision must be fixed on individuals. Necessary
procedures should be laid down for executing the decision. Suitable provision must be made to
watch the progress of the decision.
REVIEW:
Periodic review of the decision, during the period of its implementation, is necessary. This is done
by comparing the actual results with the expected results. Deviations, if any, must be noticed and
corrective measures must be taken then and there. Certain modifications or alterations in the
decision may be made if necessary.

15
INDIVIDUAL DECISIONS:
These are decisions made by individuals over an organizational issue. The individual, by virtue of
his position or knowledge or efficiency may be enjoying such a decision making authority. For
example, when there is dispute between the workers and the management, the matter may be
referred to a mediator who may conduct an enquiry and announce his decision. The decision of the
mediator is binding on both the workers and the management.

GROUP DECISIONS:
These are decisions made by the group of persons. In an organisation, there may exist a committee
consisting of the representatives of both the worker and the management. When there is any dispute
between the workers and the management. When there is a dispute between the workers and the
management, the mater will be referred to the committee. The committee may conduct an enquiry
and announce its decision which is binding on both the workers and the management.

MERITS OF GROUP DECISIONS:


1. Every member of the group will come out with his views on the problem considered. The problem,
therefore, can be thoroughly discussed and the best solution can be found out. Such an advantage
is not available in case of individual decisions.
2. The decision of the group, usually, will not be a biased one. This is because; every member of the
group has his own ideals and values. No member can thrust his view on others. There is always
chance for the bias element entering the individual decisions.
3. The group usually consists of members who represent different segments of the organization.
Therefore, each member will ensure that injustice is not done to the segment he represents.
4. The process of group decision making also provides scope for proper co-ordination and co-
operation among the members into confidence when he discusses any issue.
5. Group decisions enjoy a greater sense of acceptability than individualdecisions.

DEMERITS OF GROUP DECISIONS:

1. There may be delay in arriving at a decision.


2. There is no fixed responsibility on any member of the group for the quality of the decision made. It
is, therefore, possible that a casual approach may be adopted throughout the decision-making
process.
3. Group decisions are often found to be compromise decisions. This happens because the members
may give divergent views on the issue and the consensus has to be reached somehow at the end.
The decision is finally made so as not to hurt anybody‘s sentiments. Such a decision can only be a
compromise decision and not the best.
4. It is also possible that a few influential members of the group may try to put pressures on others
and get their consent.
5. Group decisions are always expensive compared to individual decisions in terms of time, money
and efforts required.
16
6. Conflicts may also arise between the members of the group. As a result, a decision may not be
evolved at all and the entire process may be deferred indefinitely

LEADERSHIP THEORIES
1. CHARISMATIC LEADERSHIP THEORY
They are called great man theory and can be traced back to ancient times .Plato‘s Republic and
Confucius‘ Analects dealt with leadership. They provided some insights on leadership. Subsequent
studies based on these insights have suggested that ‗a leader is born and is not made‘. A leader has
ome charisma which acts as influencer. Charismatic is a Greek work which means gift. Thus charisma
is a god gifted attribute in a person which makes him a leader irrespective of situations in which he
works,

Charismatic leaders are those who inspire and have a major impact on their organizations through
their personal vision and energy. Occasionally, a leader emerges whose high visibility and personal
charisma catch the public consciousness. Charismatic leader have extremely high level of self
confidence, dominance, and a strong conviction .they are always oriented towards high level of goals
or vision, which captures the energy of followers. The theory believes that only a transformation
leader inspires his followers through vision and energy which a normal leader cannot do. The best
examples are the Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Lenin and the great industrialists like JRD
Tata. GD Birla, Dhirbai Ambani who created industrial empires because of their own vision, energy
and entrepreneurship.
The basic assumption of charismatic theory are:
1. Leader has exceptional inborn leadership qualities which bestowed upon them by the divine
power.
2. These inborn qualities are sufficient for a leader to successful.
3. Since these qualities are inborn, these cannot be enhanced through education and training.
Further these qualities are of very personal nature, these cannot be shard by others.
4. These leadership qualities make a leader very effective and situational factors do not have any
influence.
Limitation of the theory

 If we assume that leaders are born, it means that we cannot develop leaders in the organizations.
 A charismatic leader may fail in certain situations.

TRAIT THEORY

The behavioural psychological researchers accepted the fact that leadership traits are not completely
inborn but they can also be acquired through learning and experience. Trait is defined as an enduring
quality of an individual. The trait approach seeks to determine what makes a successful leader form
the leader‘s own personal characteristics. Trait approach leadership studies were quite familiar

17
between 1930 to 1950.The method was to select leaders of eminence and their characteristics were
studied. It was the hypothesis that leaders with certain traits could become more successful leaders.
Various studies Shows various traits, hence these traits can be broadly classified into innate
qualities and acquirable traits
 Innate traits are those traits which are inborn in an individual they are related to one physical features
and intelligence.
 Acquirable traits are those traits which are acquired and increased through various processes like self
learning, training, experience etc. they are traits like emotional stability, human relations, empathy,
objectivity, motivation skills, technical skills, communication skills, social skills etc.,
The studies have given that intelligence, attitudes, personality and biological factors are
ingredients for effective leaders.
A review of various research studies has been presented by Stogdill, He has suggested these traits in
a successful leader
1. Physical and constitutional factors (height, weight, physique, energy, health, appearance)
2. Intelligence
3. Self-confidence
4. Sociability
5. Will ( initiative, persistence ambition)
6. Dominance
7. Surgency (talkative, cheerfulness, geniality, enthusiasm, expressiveness, alertness and alertness
and originality)
Limitations of the theory
There cannot be generalization of traits for successful leaders.
No evidence can be given about the degree of traits because have various traits in various
degrees.
No definite conclusion can be drawn for the measurement of the traits.
BEHAVIOURAL THEORY
Behaviour theory of leadership emphasizes that strong leadership is a result of effective role
behaviour. Leadership is shown by a persons act rather by his traits. Researchers exploring leadership
role have come to the conclusion that to operate effectively, groups need some one to perform two
major functions; task related function and group maintenance function. Task related function relate to
providing solutions to the problems faced by the groups, in performing jobs and activities. Group
maintenance function or social functions are related to actions of mediating disputes and ensuring that
individuals feel valued by the group. An individual who is able to perform both roles successfully
would be an effective leader. These two roles requires two different sets of behaviour from the leader,
known as leadership styles. Leaders behavior may be viewed in two ways, functional and
dysfunctional.

Functional leader influences followers positively by giving clear goals, motivating employees for
achieving goals, raising the level of morale, building team spirit, effective two way communication,
etc.,
18
Dysfunctional leader on the other hand is unfavourable towards employees and denotes ineffective
leadership. Such a behaviour may an inability to accept employees ideas, display of emotional
immaturity , poor human relations.
Limitations of the theory
1. A behaviour which has been functional at a point of time may be dysfunctional at another
point of time.
2. Effectiveness of the leadership behaviour is depended on two external variables
Nature of followers
Situation in which the leader operates etc.

4. SITUATIONAL THEORY
The approach was applied for the first time in 1920 in the armed forces of Germany with the objective
to get good generals under different situations. The studies when conducted in organizations in 1950‘s
gave prime attention in situational theory of leadership ( also known as contingency theory) is given
to the situation in which the leadership is exercised. There for the theory states that the effectiveness
of leadership will be affected by the factors associated with the leader and factors associated with the
situation.
The dimensions of leadership have been presented below :
The various factors affecting leadership effectiveness may be broadly by classified in two major
categories, Leader‘s behaviour and situational factors. The combination of both these factors
determines leadership effectiveness.
Leader behaviour is affected by two variables:
a. Leader‘s characteristics
b. Leader‘s Hierarchical position
Situational factors
Subordinates characteristics
Leader‘s situation
Group factors
Organizational factors
Diagram of the dimensions of leadership:

19
MANAGERIAL GRID DEVELOPED BY BLAKE AND MOUTON

One of the most widely known approaches of leadership styles in the managerial grid developed by
Blake and Mouton. They emphasize the leadership consists of factors of both task oriented and
relation-oriented behaviour in varying degrees.Two variable have been taken for the study , they are:-
 Concern for production
 Concern for people
The concern for phrase has been used to convey how managers are concerned for people or
production. Concern for production means the attitudes of superiors towards a variety ofthings, such
as, quality of policy decisions, procedures and processes creativeness of research, quality of staff
services, work efficiency and volume of output. Concern for people includes degree of personal
commitment toward goal achievement, maintaining the self esteem of workers, responsibility based
on trust, and satisfying inter personal relations. The managerial grid identifies five leadership styles
based upon these two factors(Concern for production &Concern for people) found in organizations.

20
Blake and Mouton have described five styles of leadership based on the above model
They are

1. impoverished (1,1),
2. country club (1,9),
3. task (9,1) ,
4. Middle road (5,5)
5. Team (9,9) styles of leadership
1. Impoverished (1,1): exertion of minimum effort is required to get work done and sustain organization
morale.
2. Country club (1,9): Thoughful attention to needs of people leads to friendly and comfortable
organization atmosphere and work tempo,
3. Task (9,1) : efficiency results from arranging work requirements in such a way that human elements
have little effect.
4. Middle road (5,5) : adequate performance through balance of work requirements and maintaining
satisfactory morale.
5. Team (9,9) : work accomplished is from committed people with interdependence through a common
stake in organization purpose and with trust and respect.

21
6. Managerial grid is useful device to a manager for identifying and classifying managerial
styles, it helps him to understand why he gets the reaction that he does from his
subordinates. It is a means of managerial training and of identifying various
combinations of leadership styles.
.
FIEDLER’S CONTINGENCY MODEL OF LEADERSHIP
The Fiedler Contingency Model was created in the mid-1960s by Fred Fiedler, a scientist
who studied the personality and characteristics of leaders. The model states that there is no
one best style of leadership. Instead, a leader's effectiveness is based on the situation.
This theory has taken its base form the situational approach of leadership ,states that any
single style cannot be considered suitable for all situations and for all kind of subordinates.
Fiedler developed contingency model of leadership assuming that the effectiveness of the
leadership is based on the ability to act in terms of situational requirements
Fiedler‘s Contingency Theory of Leadership holds that people become leaders not only
because of their qualities but also because of various situational factors and the
interactions between group members and the leader.
This model also explains a relationship between leadership style and the favorableness of
ituation.

1. Fiedler described situational favorableness in terms of three dimensions—


The leader and member relationship
The degree of task structure an
The leader‘s position power.
2. If the three dimensions are high, the situation can be said to be favorable. If the three
dimensions are low, the situation in combination with leadership style determines
effectiveness.

3. This theory is criticized for its deficiencies like narrow focus on a single leader trait (task
or relations orientations), ambiguity in measurement of terms of the model, and lack of
explanatory process.

4. Fiedler proposed a new theory based on empirical research, which is called the
cognitive resource theory.
5. He identified the situations under which the leader‘s cognitive resources namely intelligence,
experience and technical expertise contribute to group performance.

The leadership style of the leader, thus, fixed and measured by what he calls the least preferred co-
worker (LPC) scale, an instrument for measuring an individual‘s leadership orientation. The LPC
scale asks a leader to think of all the people with whom they have ever worked and then describe the
person with whom they have worked least well, using a series of bipolar scales of 1 to 8, such as the
following:
22
Unfriendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friendly
Uncooperative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooperative
Hostile 12345678 Supportive
.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ....
Guarded 12345678 Open

A high LPC score suggests that the leader has a "human relations orientation", while a low LPC score
indicates a "task orientation". Fiedler assumes that everybody's least preferred coworker in fact is on
average about equally unpleasant. But people who are indeed relationship motivated, tend to describe
their least preferred coworkers in a more positive manner, e.g., more pleasant and more efficient.
Therefore, they receive higher LPC scores. People who are task motivated, on the other hand, tend to
rate their least preferred coworkers in a more negative manner. Therefore, they receive lower LPC
scores. So, the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale is actually not about the least preferred worker
at all, instead, it is about the person who takes the test; it is about that person's motivation type. This
is so, because, individuals who rate their least preferred coworker in relatively favorable light on these
scales derive satisfaction out of interpersonal relationship, and those who rate the coworker in a
relatively unfavorable light get satisfaction out of successful task performance. This method reveals
an individual's emotional reaction to people they cannot work with. Critics point out that this is not
always an accurate measurement of leadership effectiveness. Situational favorableness
According to Fiedler, the ability to control the group situation (the second component of the
contingency model) is
Fiedler postulated two major style of leadership
1. Human relations style
2. Task directed style
Human relations style was oriented primarily towards achieving good interpersonal relations and
towards achieving a position of personal dominance. Human relations-oriented manager/leader is
effective in the intermediate range of favorableness. In the very favorable and very unfavorable
situation task-oriented leadership is effective.
Task oriented style is concerned towards task performed. Fiedlers felt that ‗ the group performance
will be contingent upon the appropriate matching of leadership style and the degree to which the
situation provides the leader that is the degree to which the situation provides the leader with influence
over his group members.
Favourableness of situation has been defined as the degree to which a given situation enables a leader
to exert influence over a group.
He has identified three dimensions of favourableness of situation.
The leader member relationships: the leader should be accepted by the followers
The degree of the task structure: Task is properly structured

23
The leader position or power obtained through formal authority. Great deal of authority and is formally
attributed to leader‘s position

The figure shows task oriented


leader tend to perform best in groups situations that ate either favourable or unfavorable.
Human relations oriented leaders perform best in situations that ate intermediate in favourableness.
The model indicates that leadership effectiveness depends upon the various elements in the group
environment,. Thus the effectiveness of the group performance can be affected by changing the
leadership style for the situation in accordance with the described relationships. This also helps in
designing the selection and training programmes for managers to be suitable for given situations.

ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT

24
In simple terms conflict means disagreement between the persons employed in the
organization. It may also mean clash of interest. It is the result of difference in the opinion of
employees of the organization over any issue. Such a difference of opinion arises mainly because
of the differences in the perception
If, for example, a decision has to be made on whether to revise the working hours or to continue
the existing timings, the employer is sure to get different views from different persons. Before
making the final decision, the employer has to make a secure consensus among the employees.
Only then the proposal will get the support of everyone in the organization.
Conflicts are not the same as disputes. In the case of conflicts, the solution can be found out at the
organizational level and the matter has to be referred to an impartial mediator.
Definition:
―Conflicts are any situation in which two or more parties feel themselves in opposition. It is
an interpersonal process that arises from disagreements over the goals or the methods to
accomplish those goals‖ –John W. Newstrom and KeithDavis
―Conflict is the condition of objective incompatibility between values and goals‖ – ralph Kilman
and Kenneth Thomas.
ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICT MEANING:
In simple terms conflict means disagreement between the persons employed in the organization. It
may also mean clash of interest. It is the result of difference in the opinion of employees of the
organization over any issue. Such a difference of opinion arises mainly because of the differences
in the perception
If, for example, a decision has to be made on whether to revise the working hours or to continue
the existing timings, the employer is sure to get different views from different persons. Before
making the final decision, the employer has to make a secure consensus among the employees.
Only then the proposal will get the support of everyone in the organization.
Conflicts are not the same as disputes. In the case of conflicts the solution can be found out at the
organizational level and the matter has to be referred to an impartial mediator.

DEFINITION:
―Conflicts are any situation in which two or more parties feel themselves in opposition. It is an
interpersonal process that arises from disagreements over the goals or the methods to accomplish
those goals‖ – john w. Newstrom and KeithDavis
―Conflict is the condition of objective incompatibility between values and goals‖ – ralph Kilman
and Kenneth Thomas.
CAUSES OF CONFLICT:
1. Changes in work pattern:
When the employees are asked to adopt a different pattern of work, conflicts may arise between
them on whether or not to accept such a proposal and update themselves to be able to discharge
their responsibilities as per the new pattern of work.
26
2. Difference in perceptions
The perception of any issue by the individuals will not be identical. One of the main reason why
conflicts arise in the workplace it that the perception of employees of any organizational matter
differs. If one person favors the management proposal to revise timings another person may oppose
it.
3. Differences in values:
Difference in the value system of individuals is yet another factor contributing the conflicts.
Example: an employee, who has certain grievances, may want to show his protest to the
management by striking work. On the other hand, another employee, who also has grievances, may
show his protest by fasting in the workplace.
4. Availability of Options
Another reason why conflict arises in the work place is that often the employees have options,
example: day shift or night shift, salary or commission or both.
USES OF CONFLICT:
1. Changes in work pattern:
When the employees are asked to adopt a different pattern of work, conflicts may arise between
them on whether or not to accept such a proposal and update themselves to be able to discharge
their responsibilities as per the new pattern of work.
2. Difference in perceptions:
The perception of any issue by the individuals will not be identical. One of the main reason why
conflicts arise in the workplace it that the perception of employees of any organizational matter
differs. If one person favors the management proposal to revise timings another person may oppose
it.
3. Differences in values:
Difference in the value system of individuals is yet another factor contributing the conflicts.
Example: an employee, who has certain grievances, may want to show his protest to the
management by striking work. On the other hand, another employee, who also has grievances, may
show his protest by fasting in the workplace.
4. Availability of options:
Another reason why conflict arises in the work place is that often the employees have options,
example: day shift or night shift, salary or commission or both.
5. Allocation of limited resources:
Reasons are always scarce in relation to demand. Example: when the funds available are limited,
the management may find it difficult to meet the demands of different departments.
6. Inter-dependence:
Conflicts arise due to the problem of inter-dependence between individuals and departments.
Example: marketing depends on production; production depends on purchase or raw materials and
availability of labor which in turn depends on the availability of finance.
Unequal work load: when there is disparity in the workload of employees operating at the same
level, conflicts are bound to arise. This might have been done deliberately and inadvertently.
7. Biased assessment of subordinates:
27
Some superiors show favoritism while appraising the performance of their subordinates. Favoritism
is based on caste, religion, sex etc.
8. Unattainable targets:
Some superior sets target for their subordinates that are unattainable. It might have been dine
intentionally or unintentionally. In any case it provides scope for conflicts in the workplace.
9. Lack of trust and confidence:
Lack of trust and confidence is yet another important cause of conflict. Some superiors have a
feeling that their subordinates always shirk duties and are inefficient and incapable.
10. Threat to status quo: Any change taking place in the organization that disturbs the existing
pattern of the employees give rise to conflicts. Example: certain privileges enjoyed by the
employees may be withdrawn. Additional responsibility may be given to them.

DIFFERNET STAGES OF CONFLICT:


1. LATENT CONFLICT: Conflict has not taken a definite shape. It may arise in the Subconscious
mind of a person. All the cause of conflicts is lying hidden.
2. PERCEIVED CONFLICT: here the parties become aware of the existence of the causes of conflict.
3. FELT CONFLICT: Having perceived the conflict the parties, at this stage, begin to feel it. They
become emotionally involved in the conflicts:
4. MANIFEST CONFLICT: When the stage is reached, the parties begin to show their hostile
feelings out warmly.
5. CONLFICT AFERMATH: This is the large stage with conflict may be suppressed or resolved
amicably depending upon the attitudes of the parties and the prevailing conditions.
CAUSES OF CONFLICTS:
Conflict is a natural occurrence. It arises mainly due to the difference in perceptions, values,
beliefs, sentiments, likes and dislikes of the people at work. Conflicts are not always bad. Certain
benefits also become available to the organization out of these. The various positive and negative
aspects are explained below:
Conflict in the workplace could be the result of:

 poor management
 unfair treatment
 unclear job roles
 inadequate training
 poor communication
 poor work environment
 lack of equal opportunities
 bullying and harassment
 significant changes to products, organisational charts, appraisals or paysystems
Major causes of workplace conflict
Other major causes of conflict in the workplace include:

28
UNIT V: ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE, CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
Types of Organizational Culture, Socialization Process - Organizational Change – Need - Change
Process - Resistance to Change, Change Agents - Organizational Development and Intervention
Strategies - Power and Politics - Sources of Power, Organizational Politics.

ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Meaning
“Culture is the set of important understandings that members of a community share in common.” It
consists of a basic set of values, ideas, perceptions, preferences, concept of morality, code of conduct
etc. which create a distinctiveness among human groups.
“Culture is a combination of factors that are learned through our interaction with the environment
during our developmental and growth years”.
Definitions
“The organizational culture is a system of shared beliefs and attitudes that develop within an
organization and guides the behaviour of its members.”

“The corporate culture consists of the normal values and unwritten rules of conduct of an organization
as well as management styles, priorities, beliefs and inters personal behaviour that prevails. Together
they create a climate that influences how will people communicate, plan and make decisions.”
“ Organizational culture can be defined as the philosophies, ideologies, values, assumptions, beliefs,
expectations, attitudes and norms that knit an Organization together and are shared by its employees.”
According to Edgar Schein, “ Organizational culture can be defined as a pattern of basic assumptions-
invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems of external
adaptation and internal integration-that has worked well enough to be considered valuable and,
therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to
those problems.”
Objective of Organizational Culture:
1. Cooperation: By providing shared values and assumptions, culture may enhance goodwill
and mutual trust, encouraging cooperation.
2. Decision Making: Shared beliefs give members a consistent set of basic assumptions. It may
3. Control: Control is provided by three mechanisms
4
 Market control mechanism: relies on price. If results fall short of goals, prices are adjusted
to stimulate necessary change
 Bureaucratic control mechanism: relies on formal authority. The control process consists
of adjusting rules and regulations and issuing directives
 Clan control mechanism: relies on shared beliefs and values. Provide a map that members
can rely on to choose appropriate course of action.
4. Communication: Culture reduces communication problems in two ways:
 No need to communicate in matters for which shared assumptions already exist (things go
without saying)
 Shared assumptions provide guidelines and cues to help interpret messages that are
received
5. Commitment: Strong cultures foster strong identification which causes commitment
6. Perception: What an individual sees is conditioned by what others sharing the same
experience say they are seeing
7. Justification of behavior: Culture helps organization members make sense of their behavior
by providing justification for it.

Characteristics of Organizational Culture:


1. Individual Autonomy: The degree of responsibility, freedom and opportunities of exercising
initiative that individuals have in the Organization.
2. Structure: The degree to which the Organization creates clear objectives and performance
expectations. It also includes the degree of direct supervision that is used to control employee
behaviour.
3. Management Support: The degree to which, managers provide clear communication,
assistance; warmth and support to their subordinates
4. .Identity: The degree to which, members identify with the Organization as a whole rather
than with their particular work group or field of professional expertise.
5. Performance Reward System: The degree to which reward system in the Organization like
increase in salary, promotions etc. is based on employee performance rather than on seniority,
favouritism and so on.

5
6. Conflict Tolerance: The degree of conflict present in relationships between colleagues and
work groups as well as the degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflict and
criticisms openly.
7. Risk Tolerance: The degree to which, employees are encouraged to be innovative, aggressive
and risk taking.
8. Communication Patterns: The degree to which, Organizational communications are
restricted to the formal hierarchy of authority.
9. Outcome Orientation: The degree to which, management focuses on results or outcomes
rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve these outcomes.
10. People Orientation: The degree to which, management decisions take into consideration the
impact of outcomes on people within the Organization. When we appraise the Organization
on the basis of the above characteristics, we get a complete picture of the organization’s
culture. This picture becomes the basis of shared norms, beliefs and understanding that
members have about the Organization, how things are done in it and how the members are
supposed to behave.
Types of cultutre
Cultural Typology: Goffee and Jones have identified four distinct cultural types. They argue that
these four culture types are based on two dimensions which they call sociability and solidarity.
Sociability refers to high concerns for people i.e. it is people oriented and focuses on processes rather
than on outcomes. The second dimension i.e. solidarity is however task oriented.
These two dimensions create four distinct cultural types:
1. Networked Culture:
Networked culture is high on sociability and low on solidarity. Which means that the Organization
treats, its members in a quite friendly manner and there is open sharing of information. However, this
culture type may lead to poor performance as the focus is on the people rather than on tasks.
2. Mercenary Culture:
It is low on sociability and high on solidarity. The Organizations with mercenary culture are task
oriented and believe in competition. The people are highly focussed and goal oriented but, this type
of culture may at times lead to frustration and stress among poor performers.
3. Fragmented Culture:

6
Fragmented culture is low on both sociability and solidarity. There is little or no identification with
the Organization. It is the individual members’ commitment, productivity and quality of work which
is of utmost importance. This type of culture however suffers from lack of collegiality.
4. Communal Culture:
It is high on both sociability and solidarity. The Organizations with communal culture value both
people and tasks. Work accomplishment is from committed people, and there is a relationship of trust
and respect.
The following diagram explains the four cultural typology:

Changing Organizational Culture:


Sometimes an Organization determines that its culture is unfavorable to the Organizational
effectiveness and it has to be changed.
For example, if there is a change in the external environment, the Organization must adapt itself to
the changing conditions or it will not survive. Though it is very difficult to change the old cultures,
but it is something which the management cannot do without.
The following conditions must be present only then a cultural change can take place:
1. Dramatic Crisis: Any dramatic crisis in the Organization like a major financial setback, loss of a
major customer, or atechnological breakthrough by a competitor may force the management to look
into the relevance of the existing culture.
2. New Top Leadership: If some top executives leave the Organization and new leadership takes
over, they may provide an alternative set of key values or a new culture. This new leadership may be
more capable of responding to the crisis.
3. Young and Small Organization: When the Organization is new and its size is small, it will be
easier for the management to change the culture.
7
4. Weak Culture: Weak cultures are more amenable to change than strong ones. The higher the
agreement among the members on the Organizational values, the more difficult it will be to change.
Methods to improve organizational culture:
(i) The top management people should become the positive role models. They should set the examples
through their own behaviour.
(ii) As employees learn the culture through stories, symbols and rituals, the old stories, rituals and
symbols should be replaced by creating new ones which are currently in vogue.
(iii) Adding new members, particularly at the higher level, is a powerful strategy to change the
culture, provided the new members bring in new culture.
(iv) The socialization processes should be redesigned to align with the new values.
(v) Reward system establish and reinforce specific cultural behaviours and therefore, a change in
culture can be initiated and supported by change in corporate reward systems.
(vi) Unwritten norms and beliefs should be replaced with formal rules and regulations that are tightly
enforceable.
(vii) Extensive use of job rotations should be made to shake current subcultures.
(viii) Change in the top management can have significant impact on others in the Organization,
because he may be, in a real sense, the personification of the culture.
(ix) Change in culture will be comparatively easy if peer group consensus is got through use of
employee participation and creation of a climate with a high level of trust.
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE

“Organisational change refers to any alteration that occurs in total work environment”.
“Organisational change refers to the alteration of structural relationships and roles of people in the
organization.”
Significance
 An organisation must develop adaptability to change otherwise it will either be left behind
or be swept away by the forces of change.
 Organisational change is inevitable in a progressive culture.
 Modern organizations are highly dynamic, versatile and adaptive to the multiplicityof
changes.
 It is largely structural in nature.

8
 An enterprise can be changed in several ways. Its technology can be changed, its structure,
its people and other elements can be changed.
 Organisational change calls for a change in the individual behaviour of the employees.
 Organizations survive, grow or decay depending upon the changing behaviour of the
employees.
 Most changes disturb the equilibrium of situation and environment in which the individuals
or groups exist.
 If a change is detrimental to the interests of individuals or groups, they will resist the
change.
Causes of organizational change:
External Pressures:
1. Change in Technology and Equipment:Advancements in technology is the major cause
(i.e., external pressure) of change. Each technological alternative results in new forms of
organization to meet and match the needs.
2. Market Situation: Changes in market situation include rapidly changing goals, needs and
desires of consumers, suppliers, unions etc. If an organization has to survive, it has to cope
with changes in market situations.

3. Social and Political Changes: Organizational units literally have no control over social and
political changes in the country. Relations between government and business or drive for
social equality are some factors which may compel for organizational change.

Internal pressures (pressures for change from within the organisation):


1. Changes in the Managerial Personnel: One of the most frequent reasons for major
changes in the organization is the change of executives at the top. No two managers have
the same style, skills or managerial philosophies.
2. Deficiencies in the Existing Organization: Many deficiencies are noticed in the
organizations with the passage of time. A change is necessary to remove suchdeficiencies
as lack of uniformity in the policies, obstacles in communication, any ambiguity etc.
3. Other Factors: Certain other factors such as listed below also demand a change in the
organization.

9
 Employee’s desire to share in decision-making
 Employee’s desire for higher wage rate
 Improvement in working conditions, etc.
 Response to Organizational Change:
Every change is responded by the people working in the organization. These responses may be
positive or negative depending upon the fact as how they affect people.

Before introducing a change, the manager should study and understand employee’s attitudes so as
to create a positive response. Three sets of factors-psychological, personal and social- govern the
attitude of people.

PROCESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE:


Unless the behavioral patterns of the employees change, the change will have a little impact on the
effectiveness of the organization.

A commonly accepted model for bringing change in people was suggested by Kurt Lewin in
terms of three phase process:-

10
(1) Unfreezing:
The essence of unfreezing phase is that the individual is made to realize that his beliefs, feelings
and behaviour are no longer appropriate or relevant to the current situation in the organisation.
Once convinced, people may change their behaviour. Reward for those willing to change and
punishment for others may help in this matter.

(2) Changing:
Once convinced and ready to change, an individual, under this phase, learns to behave in newways.
He is first provided with the model in which he is to identify himself. Gradually he will accept that
model and behave in the manner suggested by the model. In another process (known as
internalisation), the individual is placed in a situation where new behaviour is demanded of him if
he is to operate successfully.

(3) Refreezing:
During this phase, a person has to practice and experiment with the new method of behaviour and
see that it effectively blends with his other behavioural attitudes. Reinforcement, for creating a
permanent set in the individual, is provided through either continuous or intermittent schedules.

Resistance to organizational change:


Resistance to change is perhaps one of the baffling problems a manager encounters because it can
take many shapes. People may resign, they may show tardiness, loss of motivation to work,
increased absenteeism, request for transfer, wild-cat strikes, shoddy work, reduction in productivity
etc.

Classification of resistance to change:


Individual Resistance:
Economic Reasons:
1. Obsolescence of Skills:
When a person feels that with the introduction of newer processes, his skills will just
become obsolete, he will resist the change. For example, a twenty years experienced
accountant is quite likely to resist the introduction of a computer for preparing the wage
bills because he feels that might affect his pay and position.

11
2. Fear of Economic Loss:
People resist change if it opens the possibility of lowering their income directly or
indirectly.
Personal Reasons:
1. Ego Defensiveness:
A sales manager may turn down the suggestions of a salesman simply because the manager
perceives that his ego may be deflated by accepting the suggestion.
2. Status Quo:
Most of the people feel comfortable with status quo and strongly resist change as it may
involve uncertainty and risk.
3. Fear of Unknown:
Change presents unknown and unknown poses a constant threat and sores people. For fear
of unknown, a manager may refuse promotion that requires his relocating in another
state.Social Reasons:
Social Displacement:
Introduction of change (e.g., relocating) may result in breaking up of work groups and thus result in
disturbance of the existing social relationships of people.
1. Peer Pressure:
Whenever change is unwilling to the peers, they force the individual subordinate employees
who are bent of accepting the change, to resist it.

2. Organizational Resistance:
Resistance may also be present at organizational level. Some organizations are so designed
that they resist innovations.
Some of the reasons of organizational resistance are:
1. Threats to Power and Influence:
Some people (especially sitting at the top levels) resist change because they feel that a
change might affect their position, power and influence in the organization.
2. Organizational Structure: Some organization structures (e.g., bureaucratic structure) have
inbuilt mechanism for resistance to change.

12
3. Resource Constraints: Non-availability of financial, material and human resources may
also act as a resistance to change.
4. Sunk Cost: In some companies, heavy capital is blocked in the fixed or permanent assets. If
such an organization wishes to introduce change, then difficulty arises because of these sunk
costs.
5. Overcoming Resistance to Organizational Change: Change creates tension and emotional
turmoil in the minds of employees. Change thus results in resistance quite frequently,
negative reactions doom the success of the change program especially when a manager is
unable to handle it properly
TECHNIQUES TO HANDLE THE CHANGE PROPERLY AND TO DEAL WITH
RESISTANCE TO CHANGE ARE:
1. Education and Communication: One of the easiest techniques to overcome resistance to
change is to educate the people who resist it. In many cases, people do not properly
understand the change and hence become afraid of its consequences and resist change.
2. Participation and Involvement: If subordinates are allowed to participate and involve
themselves in the change process (decision-making regarding the implementation of the
change), their misunderstandings about the consequences of change are cleared, they
generally feel satisfied and do not oppose change.
3. Support: Support may be facilitative and emotional. Managers sometimes deal with
potential resistance by being supportive. This includes listening, providing emotional
support, providing training in new skills etc.
4. Incentives: Offering incentive is another fruitful way to overcome resistance to change.
5. Manipulation:Managers generally indulge in manipulation when all other tactics have
failed to overcome resistance to change.
6. Coercion:At times, there is no way except to deal with resistance coercively. People are
forced to accept change by threatening them with loss of their jobs, promotion possibilities
and so forth.

13
POWER AND POITICS
POWER
Power is the ability to influence other people. It refers to the capacity to affect the behaviour ofthe
subordinate with the control of resources. It is an exchange relationship that occurs in transactions
between an agent and a target. The agent is the person who uses the power and target is the receipt
of the attempt to use power
“Power refers to a capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in
accordance with A’s wishes.”
This definition implies a potential that need not be actualized to be effective and a dependency
relationship. Power may exist but not be used. It is, therefore, a capacity or potential. One can have
power but not impose it. Probably the most important aspect of power is that it is a function of
dependency.

A capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes.
The definition implies a potential that need not be actualized to be effective and
a dependency relationship. Power may exist but not be used. It is, therefore, a capacity or potential.
Contrasting Leadership and Power:
Essentially, leaders achieve goals, and power is a means of facilitating their achievement
· Leadership involves the goals of the leaders and followers - Power does not
· Leadership focuses on downward influence (leader - subordinate) - Power does not
Distinction between Power, Authority and Influence
Power is the ability to influence someone else. Influence is the process of affecting the thoughts,
behaviour and feelings of another person. Authority is the right to influence another person.
Authority is a legitimate right to influence others.
(1) Authority is right to influence others but power is ability to influence people.
(2) Authority is legitimate while power is not.
(3) Authority confers legitimacy to power but power itself need not be legitimate.
Bases of Power
Formal Power
1. Coercive Power : Coercive power is use of force to get an employee to follow an
instruction or order, where power comes from one's ability to punish the employee for

14
noncompliance. This power is in use, for example, when an employee carries out an order
under fear of losing their job or their annual bonus
1. Reward Power : Reward power is the power of a manager to give some type of reward to
an employee as a means to influence the employee to act. Rewards can be tangible or
intangible. Promotion, bonus, incentive , increment etc.,
2. Legitimate Power : Legitimate power is power you derive from your formal position or
office held in the organization's hierarchy of authority. For example, the president of a
corporation has certain powers because of the office he holds in the corporation.
3. Information Power: Informational Power is the power of having information that another
does not have, or, the distribution of information as a means of effecting change. This could
be positive or negative propaganda, knowledge of an opponents strategy, or detailed
information that is used in decision support .
Personal Power
1. Expert Power : Influence based on special skills or knowledge. When an individual
possesses in-depth information, knowledge, or expertise in the area that they are responsible
for. This type of power is often the most effective type of power. Because the person has this
high level of expertise, they can often persuade others do to things for them using trust and
respect. This expertise and therefore this type of power are greatly valued in leadership roles.
2. Referent Power :Influence based on possession by an individual or desirable resources or
personal traits. Referent Power is the “cult of personality”. This is the power and ability for
an individual to attract others and to build loyalty within them. Referent Power is also the
power of respect. This can occur through time if a leader is successful and has a well known
track-record of success.
Referent Power is also created through the values of the individual. Some folks are born with
“It”. Others study leadership and develop themselves to be able to exercise this form of power
effectively.
3. Charismatic Power: An extension of referent power stemming from an individual’s
personality and interpersonal style. A leader with charisma exercises something like divine
powers over his or her followers. This is power based upon the ability to charm, to persuade,
to hypnotise people solely with the power of personality. The charismatic leader may have no
authority based upon anything except the ability to persuade and charm

15
Sources (Base) of Power
According to French and Raven, a manager drives power from five sources : Reward,
Coercive, Legitimate, Referent and Expert power.
Reward Power
It is based on the agent's/manager's ability to control rewards the target/employee wants.
The common, e.g., of it are managers control rewards of salary increases, bonuses and
promotions. This power is based on old saying that 'wealth is power'.
Coercive Power
It is opposite of reward power. It is based on a manager's ability to cause an unpleasant
experience for its people. In organizational situation, it may be in the form of action for or
threat for dismissal, suspension, or demotion, for the people working in organization.
Legitimate Power
It is based on position and mutual agreement. Both the agent and target agree that the agent
has the right to influence the employees. It is in the form of authority which is delegated to
the positions of organizational members.
Referent Power
It is an elusive power that is based on interpersonal attraction. Charismatic individuals are
often thought to have referent power. Here, people take somebody as ideal and behave
accordingly upto a certain stage.
Expert Power
It exists when the agent has information or knowledge that the target needs. It is based on
the proverb, "knowledge in power". Three conditions to be fulfilled are :
(1) The target must trust that the information given by the agent is accurate and correct.
(2) The information should be relevant and useful to the target.
(3) The target must consider the agent as an expert. (See p. 477, 478)
Acquisition of Power
Some people enjoy more power than others because :
1. Extraordinary Works : Doing things in a non-routine or extraordinary works
contribute to power. For example, negotiating a new contract, developing a new product,
or formulating a new programme.

16
2. Visible Activities : Even extraordinary activities not known to others do not generate
much power. Therefore, activities need to be visible or known to others. Activities
announced and appreciated by the people of higher echelons bring more power.
3. Cultivate Right People : Individuals can also increase their personal power by
developing their interpersonal relationships with their superiors, subordinatesand peers.
4. Coalitions : Coalescing is yet another way to earn power. The philosophy behind joining
together is gaining increased capability to influence others.
5. Co-opt : Individuals can increase their personal power by co-opting people or groups.
Co-opting, seeks to eliminate threats and opposition to an individual's base of power.
Personal and Position Power
Doing extraordinary things contribute much to personal power. It is possible for a person to
affect the behaviour of others even when he does not have any formal authority. They do so
because of superior qualities. The basis of such personal power lies in the competence,
charisma and leader-like qualities of the person concerned.
Legitimate power is power that is based on position. Authority confers legitimacy to power.
Authority is an institutionalised form of power vested in a position or office. Position power
is an exercise of the authority delegated to a person.
Meaning of Organizational Politics
It means the use of power and influences in organizations. Actions not officially sanctioned
or acceptable by an organization that are taken to influence others in order to meet personal
goals refer to politics.
Reasons for Organizational Politics
There are many reasons that contribute to political behaviour in organizations. Some of
them are :
1. Clear Goals : Organizations are human groups work for achieving certain goals. The
more unclear and complex the goals are, the more politics will be.
2. Discretionary Authority : Organizations provide position with discretionary authority
that is used based on individual judgement.

17
3. Autocratic Decisions : The leader dictates the decisions or orders and the subordinates
have no right to disobey. This leads to low employee morale and doubts about what the
manger-leader decides. Therefore, in order to safeguard their interests, workers involve in
politics by forming coalitions and associations.
4. Power Politics : Power is also a limited in supply. Hence, there is a competition among
mangers/executives to acquire more and more power. They try to acquire more power and
resources than their competitors. Managers' such behaviour becomes quite dysfunctional.
5. Saturation in Promotion : Some people reach maximum level of promotion. They feel
dissatisfaction and resort to the organizational politics. Some people may like work
performance more than positional achievement and therefore, may not resort to politics.
6. Biased Performance Appraisal : When the job performance of a personnel cannot be
measured quantitatively, performance appraisal is made on the basis of the judgement ofthe
superior. As such the performance appraisal is likely to be subjective and biased. This may
force the subordinates into dysfunctional political behaviour.
Characteristics (Symbols) of Power and Powerlessness (Negative aspects)
Kanter has identified several symbols of power or characteristics of powerful people in
organization. These are :
1. Ability to intercede for someone in trouble : An individual who can pull someone ofa
jam has power.
2. Ability to get placement for favoured employees : Arranging and getting a key
promotion for an employee is a sign of power.
3. Exceeding budget limits : A manager who can go beyond and above budget limits
without being reprimanded has power.
4. Procuring above-average raises for employees : A manager who can pull incentives
above average for his/her employee has power.
5. Getting items done on own terms at meetings.
6. Access to early information : Having access to information before anyone else is an
indication of power.
7. Top managers seeking out opinion : Top managers may seek advice from their lower-
level managers. These lower-level managers have power.
Unlike Katner, Michael Korda has identified three symbols of power.

18
(1) Office furnishing,
(2) Time power and
(3) Standing by.
Office Furnishing : Office furniture is a message about power one has. Size of the
manager's table conveys the amount of power the manger has.
Time Power : The powerful executives value time much. A full calendar of the day is a
proof of manager's power.
Standing by : People are obliged to stay close to their phones so that the executives can
have access to them. The idea is that the more you can impose your schedule on your
people, the more power you have.
Symbols of Powerlessness (Lack of Power)
The first-line supervisors often display three symptoms of powerlessness.
These are :
(i) Overly close supervision
(ii) inflexible adherence to rules;
(iii) a tendency to do the jobs themselves rather than educating and training their
subordinates to do these.
When staff professionals (accountants and lawyers) feel powerless, they resist change and
try to protect their turf.
The key to overcome powerlessness is to share power, i.e., empowerment and delegate tasks
to subordinates.
Empowerment is the sharing of power in such a way that individuals learn to believe in their
ability to do the job. Empowerment has four dimensions:
1. Meaning: A fit between the work role and the employees values and beliefs.
2. Competence: A belief that one has the ability to do the job well.
3. Self-determination: Having control over the way one does one's work.
4. Impact: The belief that one's job makes a difference within the organization.
As a manager, you can use these guidelines for empowering your employees. Express
confidence in employees, set high performance expectations, create opportunities for
participative decision making, remove constraints that slow autonomy and set inspirational
and meaningful goals.

19
EFFECTIVE USAGE OF POWER
- Use power in ethical ways.
- Understand and use all the various types of power and influence.
- Seek out jobs in the organization that allow you to develop your power skills.
- Use power tempered by self-restraint and maturity.
- Accept that influencing people is an important part of a manager's job.
French and Raven's Five phases of Power
Social psychologists French and Raven, in a now-classic study (1959), developed a schema
of sources of power by which to analyse how power plays work (or fail to work) in a specific
relationship.
Power is the ability to influence someone According to French and Raven, power must be
distinguished from influence in the following way: power is that state of affairs which holds
in a given relationship, A-B, such that a given influence attempt by A over B makes A's
desired change in B more likely. Conceived this way, power is fundamentally relative - it
depends on the specific understandings A and B each apply to their relationship and,
interestingly, requires B's recognition of a quality in A which would motivate B to change in
the way A intends. A must draw on the 'base' or combination of bases of power appropriate
to the relationship, to effect the desired outcome. Drawing on the wrong power base can have
unintended effects, including a reduction in A's own power.
French and Raven argue that there are five significant categories of such qualities, while not
excluding other minor categories. Further bases have since been adduced - in particular by
Morgan (1986: Ch. 6), who identifies 14, while others have suggested a simpler model for
practical purposes -for example, Handy (1976), who recommends three.
In a notable study of power conducted by social psychologists John French and Bertam Raven
in 1959 power is divided into five separate and distinct forms. As we know leadership and
power are closely linked. This idea shows how the different forms of power affect one's
leadership and success. This idea is used often in organizational communication and
throughout the workforce. "The French-Raven power forms are introduced with consideration
of the level of observability and the extent to which power is dependent or independent of
structural conditions. Dependency refers to the degree of internalization that occurs among
person's subject to social control. Using these considerations it is possible to link personal

20
processes to structural conditions". (Donald Warren 1968) (Lazarfeld and Menzel 1961)
French & Raven introduce five bases of power Coercive, Reward, Legitimate, Referent and
Expert.

21

You might also like