Department of Computer Science Organisation Behaviour

Unit I

Organization Behaviour

Meaning:

Any organisation requires 4 M’s for its effective functioning- Men, Machines, Materials and
Money. Organisational behaviour obviously, should mean Human behaviour- the behaviour of
the individuals in the organisation. Knowledge of the behaviour of employees would help the
manager to derive optimum results out of their efforts.

Key Points about OB

1. OB is a way of thinking
2. OB is multidisciplinary
3. There is a distinctly humanistic orientation within OB
4. The field of OB is performance-oriented
5. The role of the scientific method is important in studying variables and relationships
6. OB has a distinctive applications orientation .

Definition:

“Organisational behaviour is the study and application of knowledge about how people- as
individuals and as groups act within organizations’. It strives to identify ways in which people
can act more effectively:.

Nature of Organisational Behaviour:

 It focuses on the behaviour of individuals and also to know the reason why people in the
workplace behave in a particular manner. The idea is to influence them positively so that
they do their best towards the attainment of the organisational goals.

 It is inter-disciplinary in nature. It takes relevant things from such behavioural science

subjects as psychology, sociology and anthropology.

 It is an applied science. It makes use of research findings to solve organisatonal problems

relating to human behavioural aspects.

 It is an art as well. Mere application of the behavioral science theories may not by itself,

1
Department of Computer Science Organisation Behaviour

solve behavioural problems in workplace. Without skill which is not possible to

understand and influence human behaviour.

 The objectives of a business organisation is to make profits by maximizing production

and sales. It is possible, by securing positive human behaviour.

Objectives of Organisational Behaviour

To describe human behviour in work place: The first objective of ob is to describe how
people in the workplace behave under different conditions.

To understand behaviour: understanding behaviour is the next important objective of ob. The
manager should be able to understand why his subordinates behave in a particular manner.

To predict behaviour: The manager knows beforehand that a change in working hours would
be resisted by he employees on certain grounds, he can overcome such resistance by explaining
the proposal to the employees well in advances and by getting their consent to it.

To influence behaviour: The manager should use his position to induce, persuade and motivate
the employees to approach work with a positive attitude.

Key Elements of OB

People : An organisation is identified and represented by the people who are employed in it.
People differ in their personality traits- Knowledge, attitude, aptitude, intelligence, capacity,
endurance, skill, memory and so on.

Structure: It refers to the relationship that exists between the different individuals working as a
department to division.

Technology : The kind of technology used in the workplace influences working relationships. It
enables the employees t work with greater efficiency.

Environment : The environment- both internal and external also influences organisational
behavior. Internal refers to attitudes and expectations of the employees and external refers to
attitudes and expectations of the Government.

2
Department of Computer Science Organisation Behaviour

Importance of OB

 The study of OB helps the management to understand the employees better. This paves
way for better labour –management relationships.

 It helps to the manager to know the weaknesses and strengths of every subordinate.

 The management can know beforehand the decisions for which t he employees are likely
to show resistance. It enables to them to overcome the resistances.

 The study of OB provides scope to the organisation to understand the individual

behaviour while in a group.

 The behaviour of an individual in a workplace is not influenced by the happenings in the

workplace alone. Counselling may help the employee to get rid of his grief.

 Conflict may be raised in organisation due to differences of opinion among individuals

on certain issues. It will be solved effectively by organisational behaviour.

 It has to introduce certain changes gradually for better functioning. If the manager has
knowledge of the behaviour of his workforce, he will be able to introduce any change
successfully.

Disciplines contributing to OB

Psychology: It is a science of human mind. It studies the mental characteristics of an

individuals. It enables the manager to influence the individual employee positively towards the
accomplishment of the organisational goals.

Sociology : Sociology deals with the social behaviour of an individuals . Knowledge of

sociology helps the manager to tackle group behaviour effectively.

Anthropology : It is a study of fundamental differences in the values and beliefs of people from
different walks of life. It studies the culture and practices in different societies. Such a study is
also useful in understanding human behaviour.

3
Department of Computer Science Organisation Behaviour

HAWTHORNE EXPERIMENTS

Illumination Experiments: the main objective of the illumination experiments was to study the
effect of the quality of lighting in the workroom on the efficiency of the workers.

Relay Assembly Test Room Experiments: these experiments were conducted in an assembly
department where telephone relay units were assembled. The object of the experiments was to
ascertain the relationship between working conditions and productivity.

Interview Programme: A massive interview programme was conducted covering more than
ten thousand workers to find out their views on their jobs, working conditions, supervisions etc.

Bank Wiring Group Observations: the main aim of the study here is to find out the influence
of the group on a worker to restrict his output in spite of the existence of incentives for higher
output.

Models of Organizational Behavior

There are five model of organizational behavior, such as-
• Autocratic Model,
• Custodial Model,
• Collegial Model,
• Supportive Model, and
• System Model.
•
Autocratic Model: The basis of this model is power with a managerial orientation of authority. The
employees in turn are oriented towards obedience and dependence on the boss. The employee need
that is met is subsistence. The performance result is minimal.

Custodial Model: The basis of this model is economic resource with a managerial orientation of
money. The employees in turn are oriented towards security and benefits and dependence on the
organization. The employee need that is met is security. The performance result is passive
co-operation.

Collegial Model: The basis of this model is partnership with a managerial orientation of teamwork.
The employees in turn are oriented towards responsible behavior and self-discipline. The employee
need that is met is self-actualization. The performance result is moderate enthusiasm.

4
Department of Computer Science Organisation Behaviour

Supportive Model: The basis of this model is leadership with a managerial orientation of support.
The employees is turn are oriented towards job performance and participation. The employee need
that is met is recognition. The performance result is awakened drives.

System Model: An emerging model of organizational behavior is the system model. It is the result
of a storng search for higher meaning at work by many of today employees. They want more than a
pay-check and job security from their job. In this model helps for gowning sense of community
among co-worker. Under the system model manager try to convey to each other that you are an
important part of your whole system. We sincerely care about of you. We want to join together to
achieve a better product or service local community and society at large. Make friendly
environment, self motivation of the employee. They take responsibility to achieve their own goals.
Trust to the employee psychology co-operative explain the best model of organizational model.

5
 Unit II
Foundation of Individual Behaviour

All Organisation are compared of individuals. The Organisation performance is largely

affected by the thay individuals behave at work. That individuals with different situation.
Underlines the need for managers to understand individual/ human behaviour at work. So as to
extract the best and maximum contribution them.

The Individuals and individual differences:

The behaviours of individuals is determined by the characteristic of individuals and

environment they live in.

As regards individual difference at work the importance are outlined here:

Depending upon different psycoligical make-up people differ in attaching to a job.ex

1. While some people will prefer to assume challenging jobs for expressing their abilities. Others
may like to prefer jobs offering, job security

2. People also differ in the type of compensation plan they want some may prefer to here
compensation underline wage sysytem as their compentation plan.

3. People differ in the style of leadership they want to work under while some may like to work
under autoctatic leadership style,other may be prefer to be under democratic or laissez faire style

4. People also differ in their personal characteristics like sex, age,race,education, ability, perception,
personality, values, attitudes etc.

Human Behaviour and its Causation

1. The human behaviour it caused by certain reason. Behaviour is the result of intercation between
individuals characteristics and the characteristics of the environhment in which the behaviours is the
function of both the person and the enviroment.

2. As stated earlier, each person with a unique combination of characteristics of different from all
others some of those characteristics are inherited from birth while others are learned over time.

3. Personal characteristics remains inside the person where as characteristics served as in the
foundation of individuals.

6
Foundation of individuals/human behaviour
PERSON BIOGRAPHICAL FACTORS ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS
1. sex 1. economics conditions
2. Age 2. Technological Changes
3. Education 3. Government policies
4. Abilities 4. Cultural Environment
5. Martial Status

PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS

1. Personality 1. Nature of job
2. Perception 2. job security
3. Attitudes 3. Work environment
4. Values 4. Leadership styles
5. Learnings 5. Pay benifits

Personal factors
Sex:
Sex has a profound impact or behaviour at work. It effects is turn over absentoeism.
Research has proved beyound doubt that the tendency to change job and asstains from work is
higher among female employees than their male counter parts.

Age:
age also has an important impact on performance turn over, absentoeism, employees
performance tends to decline. The oblence grows, less lightly he/she become to quit the jobs due to
decreasing prosperity to move from one jobs to another and from one place to another. The
absenteeism rate among the older aged is likely to be higher mainly due to poor health associated
with old age.

Education:
Both the level and type of education also affected individual behaviours. Higher the
education levels, higher will be one's exceptation for reward and in turn increases will be job
satisfaction. The opposite is true when levels of education is lower

The type of education an individual has received also affects his/hetr behaviours. Education
can be either general including areas like arts, humanilies and social sciences or special covering
disciplines such as engineering, medicine, managementts, computerscience and the like.

Abilities:
Simply starting ability means an individual skill and capacity to perform a job. Ability is
made up of two types of skill 1) intellectual and 2) PhysicalAbility needed to performs mental
activity called intellectual activities Four Dimensions of Intellectual

7
DIMENSION JOB EXAMPLE
Number aptitude Accountant – completing sales tax on a set of
items
Verbal Comprehension Plant Manager – following corporate policies.

Perceptual Speed File investigator – identi8fying clues to support

a change of arson

Inductive Reasoning Market reasearcher – forecasting demand for a

product in the next time
Physical abilities:
 It refers to one stamina, manual density leg strength and the like
 Physical abilities again importance for successfully doing less skilled jobs
 One researcher has indentified ninr bank abilities involved in successfull performance of
physical jobs or tasks

Marital status
The need for a secured job and stable income is greater in case of married employees. A
married employee has greater domestic commitments and therefore adapts himself to the needs of
the organisation. He cannot resign the jobs in case he derives less or no job statisfaction.

Environmental Factor:

Economic Conditions:
• though ecnomic factors include several one's the prominent among them are employment
level, wagr rate, ecnomic outlook and techonologies change.

• Level of employee opportunities avaliable in the country bear strong influence on the
behaviour of individual

• Employee works to earn wages that satisfy their needs. It is widley accepted that higher the
wages, more attraction for employees to be attract to join and organisation and vice versa.

• Accordingly,higher wages offer greater job statisfaction and more stability and regularity in
an employees job

• The general ecnomic outlook prevent in an economy also affects employees satisfaction and
inturn their behaviour at work.

8
 • Technological change in the form of automation, robotics, computerisation and in turn,
employees behaviour as well technological change reduces skill required for employees to
perform a job and pushes wage rate downward

Cultural values:

people living in differentt regions,different cultural values. Cultural is made up of the factor
like basic belives value, work ethic, need for acheivement that have behavioual implilication

Value is tangle with one's mortal that guide an individual to judge what is right and what is
wrong. such value based judgement influence one's perception, attitudes etc. The work ethic is also
tanged with moral. An employees hard work and commitment to his/her work is called work ethic.

Political situations:

The political climate covering in a country,in which an individual lives affects the individual
behaviour in one way or other

Enough evidence is available from our own home land to argue that the stability or
otherwise of the goverment affects the employement opportunities, both inquantity and quality.

Organisational Factors

Nature of Job

Among the various organisational factors influencing behaviour the important one is the
nature of an employee's job. Obviously, if the employee's job is a challenging one he will have
greater motivation to work. On the other hand, if the work is of a routine, dull or repetitive nature
the employee may not work with interest.

Job Security

One of the most important needs of employees is job security. An employee with security of
service can, certainly, work with greater motivation than the one without it.

Work Environment

The physical work environment is concerned, needless to say, the employer shall ensure the
necessary physical amenities in the work place – drinking water, toilet, rest room, canteen,
workrooms with proper ventilation and lighting and so on.

9
 The Social work environment, the relationships are cordial the employee may exhibit more
favourable behaviour.

Pay Benefits

Let us not say here that the employee should be given higher pay. He should be adequately
compensated for his work. The compensation package of the organisation should do justice to both
the employee and the employer.

Leadership Style
Different managers adopt different leadership styles. Example, Autocratic style of leadership
does not always produce good results.

Personality

Definition
“Personality can be described as how a person affects others, how he understands and views
himself and his pattern of inner and outer measurable traits”

Personality Determinants

There are several factors that determine the formation or shaping of our personality. Among them
the three major factors are: Heredity, Environment and Situation.

i) Heredity

The genetic components inherited from our parents at the time of conception determine strongly the
personality characteristics of an individual. The color, height, physical statutory, facial
attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition, inheritable diseases etc are considered to
be inherited from our parents.

ii) Environment

The culture in which people are brought up in their lives and they type of socialization process such
as family’s child rearing practices, socio economic status of the family, number of children in a
family, birth order, education of the parents, friends and peer group pressures, religious practices,
the type of schooling and recreational activities, pastime behavior etc play a critical role in shaping
our personalities.

10
iii) Situation
The type of specific situation which a person encounters also equally shapes the type of personality
characteristics. For example, an individual’s exposure to a job interview and the type of
experiences encountered during that time will shape certain personality characteristics. Similarly,
going for a picnic with friends and encountering the type of experiences whether pleasant and
unpleasant will shape the personality characteristics of individuals.

Key Personality Traits Relevant to Work Behavior

i) Self Esteem:

It refers to the individuals’ self worthiness and the extent to which they regard themselves as
capable, successful, important and worthwhile. People who feel good about themselves will always
produce good results. Studies of self-esteem show that it is closely related to mental health. People
with low self-esteem are more likely to suffer depression and greater stress. People with positive
self-esteem adjust to life better and deal every day problems more effectively. Individuals’ with high
self esteem will try to take up more challenging assignments and be successful, which in turn,
enhance their overall self-concept. People with high self esteem would tend to classify themselves
as highly valuable in the organization.

ii) Locus of Control:

It refers to the extent to which people tend to have control over their own fate and life. There are
two type of locus of control. The Internal Locus of Control refers to those who believe that they
control what happens to them and shape the course of their evens in their lives, whereas the
External Locus of Control believe that what happens to them iscontrolled by outside forces such as
luck or chance. Internals always believe in putting more effort and seek more job related
information, rely more on their own abilities and judgment at work, and more actively seek
opportunities for advancement.

iii) Self Efficiancy:

It refers to the belief that a person has in their own capability to perform a specific task. People with
high self-efficiancy will prefer to have moderate level of task difficulty, strong self confidence and
conviction in the chosen tasks and possess high expectation in completing the assignment across the
entire situation. Employees with high self-efficiancy respond to specific negative feedback about
their performance with increased motivation and effort, while those with low self-efficiancy are
more likely to give up and reduce their motivation

11
iv) Self-Monitoring:

It refers to the extent to which a person has the ability to adjust his or her behavior to external or
situational factors. Those with high self- monitoring will be more sensitive and notice the significant
changes occurring in the environment and able to adapt them by adjusting their behavior. High self-
monitors are capable of exhibiting a striking contrast between their public persona and their private
self. Low self- monitors cannot disguise their behavior and tend to exhibit the same behavior all the
time.
v) Emotional Intelligence:

It is also called as EQ which refers to individual’s ability to be aware of feelings and emotions and
the extent to which they can manage them more effectively in dealing with others and challenging
events. It consists of five main abilities:

• Knowing one’s emotions: Self-awareness and recognizing ones feelings as it occurs

• Managing emotions: Handling feelings and emotions appropriately to the relevant situations

• Motivating oneself: Directing the feelings and emotions in such a way to fulfilling the desired
goals

• Recognizing emotions in others: Empathizing and understanding the feelings and emotions for
others

• Handling Relationships: Being able to interrelate, communicate and work with others.

vi) Big Personality Traits

There are five Big Personality Traits which have a significant impact in individual’s life. They are as
follows:

a) Extroversion: Extroverts are sociable, lively, and gregarious and seek outward interaction. Such
individuals are likely to be most successful working in marketing division, public relations etc.
where they can interact face to face with others. Introverts are quite, reflective, introspective and
intellectual people, preferring to interact with a small intimate circle of friends. Introverts are more
likely to be successful when they can work on highly abstract ideas (accountant, R&D work etc) in
a relatively quite atmosphere.

12
b) Agreeableness: This refers to the extent to which individuals agreeing and cooperating with
others. Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm and trusting. People who score low on
agreeableness are cold, disagreeable and antagonistic. This characteristic is very important and
critical in attaining a successful achievement in their life.

c) Conscientiousness: This refers to the extent to which people are responsible and dependable in
their work and life. A highly conscientiousness person is responsible, organized, dependable and
persistent. They are likely to move upward direction very quickly and attain remarkable
achievement in their life. Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted, disorganized
and unreliable.

d) Emotional Stability: This refers to the extent to which people have the ability to withstand
stress. People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident and secure. Those
with highly low level of emotional stability tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed and insecure.

e) Openness to experience: This refers to the extent to which people are more imaginative, artistic
sensitivity and intellectualism. Individuals tend to vary widely ranging from conservative to creative
or artistic. Extremely open people are creative, and artistically sensitive. Whereas not so open
category personnel are very conservative and find comfort in the familiar or routine activities.

Theories of personality:

There is no conscious among the theorists about the theories of personality. Among several
theories the more prominent are
1) Type Theory
2) Trait Theory
3) Psycoanalytical Theory
4) Social learning Theory
5) Self theory
Type Theory
The first student of human nature also endeavoured to study human personality by
classifying them into certain types. Personality by classificaion was made on two basic

1. Body build/Structure

2. Psychological factor

13
In case of body build basis personalities were classified into types by establishing relationship
between one's body build.

According, person having a short (or) plumb body build were characterised as sociable and
relaxed,law and thin person as restrained, Self-conscious and found of attitude and those with heavy
set muscular body build as noisy,caused and found of physical activity. Personality types on the
basis of psychological factors are based on the assumption that personality is the totality of a
person's interacting sub-system.

Classified in to two type 1) introverts , 2) Extroverts. Onthe contraty,extroverts are

sociable,friendly, gregarious, aggressive. No doubt typing, personalities into introvert and extrovert
looks simple interesting, but it does not serve much of its purpose in understanding personalities in
more details and depth. The reason is that , as started earlier also , most of the people tend to be
neither introverts nor extroverts but ambiverts, that is, they are in between the two extremes of
introverts and extroverts.
Trait theory
Some Psychologists have tried to understand personality on the basis of individuals traits.
Traits is an enduring characteristic of a person in which he/she differ from another. Popular human
characteristic include the aggressive , submissive, lazy, ambilious, loyal and limplict. Thus , trits
can be described as individual variables (or) dimensions.

Trait theory is based on the following three assumptions.

1. Trait are common to many individuals but vary in absolute amounts below the individuals.
2. traits are relatively stave.their consistent accurance influenced the human behaviour.
3. One's trait can be inferred by measuring his / her behavioural indicators.
In recent years , john has propounded a personality and model called the big five model.
1. Extraversion: Who is socialasle, talkative and assertive
2. Agreeableness: One who is good natured, co-operative and trusting.
3. Conscientiousness: A person who is responsible, dependable, persistent and achievementoriented.
4.EmotionalStability: Some one characterised by calm, nervous, enthusiastic, depressed and
insecure.
5. Openness to experience: A person who is imaginative, artistically sensitive and intellectural.
Psychoanalytical theory

Psychoanalytical theory is yet another type of personality. The Basic notation of which
psychoanalytical theory is based on is that human behaviour is influence more by forces that

14
conscious and rational thoughts. This conscious frame work is compossed of three element- id,ego
and super ego. Fraud himself consider specific structures of one's personality.

The id

the id is inciate and the source of psychic energy. It seeks immediate notification for
biological or instinctual needs. It is like raw and thus remains basic to the individual throughout life.
The id follows the basic priniciple of all human life. The id immidiately reducing tension, thus
obeys the pleasure priniciple.

The Ego
The id is unconscious part while the ego is conscious part of human personality. The ego is
associated with reality. It check the id through logic and intellect. The ego can be best be described
as controlling id through realities. Thus here lies the role of ego (ie) reality in satisfying hunger or
reducing tension created by hunger.
The Super Ego

The Super ego represents system of values, norms and ethic that guide and govern a person
to behave propely in the society. In one sense, the super ego can be described as conscience. It
Provides norms and values to ego to determine what is wrong or right at a given time in given
society/situation. In total it can be concluded that id seeks plpeasure, the ego varities reality and the
super ego strives for perfection.

Social learning therory

learning can simply be defined as any change in one's behaviour that occurs a result of
experience. Learning occurs through two ways 1. Reinforcement, 2. Observing others

learning by observing other is also called “vicarious – learning”. The Social learning theory
emphasis on how an individual behaves(or) acts in a given situation. At the same time, it is also true
than an individual's behaviour also at time influences the situational conditions. Individual, by
selective attending to what is happening, can prevent certain co9ndition from implementing on
him/her. Thus the relationship below the situation and the individual is of reciprocal pattern.

Self Theory

carl Roger's is credited with self theory is personality. This theory is also describes as “
phenemenological” which studies individual's subjective experience feelings and his concepts of
world and self.

15
Self- Image
By nature every person has certain beleivs about what who he/she is

Ideal- Self
The ideal- Self refers to what one could to look like. The basic line of difference
below self-image and ideas -self is that the former indicates the reality of a person whereas thew
latter implies the ideality of person.

Looking class- self

This refer to how others are perceivind the individual. This indicates that one's belive
about self is a reflection of other's perception about the person
Real – Self
The real self is a what one actually is the first three self- concept relate to an
individual's perception about himself/ herself. People perceive the same situation differently depend
upon their conception of the situation. This in turn, influence them to behave differently. Thus in
any attempt of analysing and uderstanding organisational behaviour, the self-concept plays a
significant role in relating/ behaving in a particular manner.

16
Erikson's Approach to Personality Development

Important
Stage Basic Conflict Outcome
Events
Children develop a sense of trust when caregivers
Infancy (birth
Trust vs. Mistrust Feeding provide reliabilty, care, and affection. A lack of this
to 18 months)
will lead to mistrust.
Children need to develop a sense of personal
Early control over physical skills and a sense of
Autonomy vs.
Childhood (2 Toilet Training independence. Success leads to feelings of
Shame and Doubt
to 3 years) autonomy, failure results in feelings of shame and
doubt.
Children need to begin asserting control and power
over the environment. Success in this stage leads to
Preschool (3 to
Initiative vs. Guilt Exploration a sense of purpose. Children who try to exert too
5 years)
much power experience disapproval, resulting in a
sense of guilt.
Children need to cope with new social and
School Age (6 Industry vs. academic demands. Success leads to a sense of
School
to 11 years) Inferiority competence, while failure results in feelings of
inferiority.
Teens need to develop a sense of self and personal
Adolescence
Identity vs. Role Social identity. Success leads to an ability to stay true to
(12 to 18
Confusion Relationships yourself, while failure leads to role confusion and a
years)
weak sense of self.
Young adults need to form intimate, loving
Young
Intimacy vs. relationships with other people. Success leads to
Adulthood (19 Relationships
Isolation strong relationships, while failure results in
to 40 years)
loneliness and isolation.
Adults need to create or nurture things that will
outlast them, often by having children or creating a
Middle
Generativity vs. Work and positive change that benefits other people. Success
Adulthood (40
Stagnation Parenthood leads to feelings of usefulness and
to 65 years)
accomplishment, while failure results in shallow
involvement in the world.
Older adults need to look back on life and feel a
Maturity(65 Ego Integrity vs. Reflection on sense of fulfillment. Success at this stage leads to
to death) Despair Life feelings of wisdom, while failure results in regret,
bitterness, and despair.

17
PERCEPTION

Perception is process through which short-run changes are made in behavior in response to inputs
from work environment. The process itself consists of two major actions – i) attention to incoming
stimuli and ii) translation of such stimuli into a message that leads to a meaningful behavioral
response. Perception is form of behavior and, therefore, influenced by at least the following factors:
i) characteristics of the object or source of incoming stimuli (such as a supervisor issuing work
request); ii) the situation or conditions under which the stimuli occur (such as timing of a message)
and iii) characteristics of the perceiving person. The last category is extremely important in
determining the way incoming stimuli will be interpreted and subsequent response. An individual’s
motives, previous learning and personality will influence perception. Managers must take such
consideration into account in predicting the way their actions and order will be perceived by others.

Five Stages in Perceptual Process:

Stage I: Observation Phase – It depicts the environmental stimuli being observed by the fives
senses of the perceived

Stage II: Selection of the Stimuli: This is governed both by factors external to the perceived, such
as the characteristics of the stimulus, and internal to the individual, such as the personality
disposition and motivations of the perceiver.

Stage III: Organizing Stage – In this stage, the perceiver is influenced by figure and ground,
grouping, and several perceptual errors such as stereotyping halo effects, projection and perceptual
defense.

Stage IV: Interpretation Stage: This stage is governed by the perceiver’s assumptions of people
and events and attributions about causes of behavior and feelings.

Stage V: Behavior Response: In this stage the response of the perceiver takes on both covert and
overt characteristics. Covert response will be reflected in the attitudes, motives, and feelings of the
perceiver and overt responses will be reflected in the actions of the individual.

Factors Influencing Perception:

Several factors influence how we process the perceptual inputs and transform them into outputs.
There are three broad categories: Characteristics of Perceiver, Characteristics of Target, and
Characteristics of Situation.

18
Characteristics of Perceiver:

A person’s needs and motives, self-concept, past experience, emotional state, and personality
aspects strongly influence the perceptual process.

Needs and Motives:

Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence on their
perception. For examples, two groups of subjects – One group who is deprived of food for about 24
hours and the other group which had food enough were shown the blurred pictures and asked to
explain the contents. The first group perceived the blurred image as food far more frequently than
the other group. People needs and motives thus play a big part in the perceptual process.

Self Concept:

It refers how a person perceives himself/herself which in turn influence his or her perception of the
world around them. If a person perceives himself as incompetent, then he perceives the world as
threatening. On the other hand, if he feels himself as confident and capable, he will perceive
everything around as friendly.

Attitudes:

The preferences and likingness affects ones perception. A lecturer, who likes bigger class, feels
comfortable in a lecture session which has more than hundred students. Another lecturer, who likes
small class with a lot of questions, may not be so comfortable in such big classes.

Interests:

Individual’s focus of attention is also influenced by the interests of people. A plastic surgeon will
more likely to notice an imperfect nose than a plumber. Because of our individual interests differ
considerably, what one person notices in a situation, can differ from what other person perceives.

Past experiences:

Individuals past experiences also influence in molding ones perception. For example if one has had
problem responding to examination questions in the past, he or she will tend to perceive even
simple, straightforward examination question as tricky. Likewise, if a person was betrayed by a
couple of friends, he or she would never venture to cultivate new friendship in future.

19
Psychological or Emotional State:

If an individual is depressed, he or she is likely to perceive the same situation differently from the
other person who is at the extreme level of excitement or happiness. If a person has been scared of
seeing a snake in the garden, she is likely to perceive a rope under the bed as a snake. Thus, the
emotional and psychological states of an individual also influence the perceptual process and the
different types of interpretation of the situation.

Expectation:

Expectations can also distort the perceptual process. If a person expects police officers to be more
authoritative and dictatorial, he or she may perceive them as if they are rough and tough regardless
of the Police Officers actual traits.

New Experience:

If a person experiences something new, that is more likely to grab attention than the objects or
events that has been experienced before. For example, a person is more likely to notice the
operations along an assembly line if this is first time that person has seen an assembly line. In
1970’s women police officers are highly visible because traditionally Police Officers positions were
predominantly held by males.

Personality Characteristics:

There is a strong relationship between personality factors and perception. For example, secure
people tend to perceive others as warm supportive than those, who are more cold and indifferent.
Similarly, self-accepting persons perceive others as lining and accepting them. Those who are not
self-accepting tend to distrust others. Insecure, thoughtless or non self-accepting persons are less
likely to perceive themselves and those around them accurately. In all probabilities, they are likely
to distort, misinterpret or in other ways defensively perceive the situation

Characteristics of Target:
The ways things are organized around us are greatly influencing the perceptual process. Some of the
typical characteristics include bright color, noise; novel objects, bigger unusual size, moving
objects, status, appearance, contrast, intensity, repetition etc. catch people attention. For example, an
unusual noise raised by a person, a strong beam of light suddenly flashed, a very handsome,
attractive person among a group of clumsy people, a red light against the black background, an
unusually obese person amidst a group of slim people etc.

20
Organization of Target:

People tend to organize the various parts of elements in the environment as a meaningful whole.
Such organizing activity is a cognitive process and those are based on Gestalt Principles. The
following are the four Gestalt Principles – Figure and Ground, Proximity, Similarity, Closure,
Continuation.

Figure and Ground:

What a person observes is dependent on how a central figure is being separated from its
background. This implies that the perceived object or person or event stands out distinct from its
background and occupies the cognitive space of the individual. In a dance programme, the
spectators’ tend to perceive the dance performance against the back ground music, backdrop setup
etc. The perceiver thus tends to organize only the information which stands out in the environment
which seems to be significant to the individual.

Proximity:
People tend to perceive things, which are nearer to each other, as together as group rather than
separately. If four or five members are standing together, we tend to assume that they are belonging
to same group rather than as separately. As a result of physical proximity, we often put together
objects or events or people as one group even though they are unrelated. Employees in a particular
section are seen as group.

Similarity:

Persons, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped together. This
organizing mechanism helps us to deal with information in an efficiently way rather than getting
bogged down and confused with too many details. For examples, if we happen to see a group of
foreign nationals at an International seminar, Indians are grouped as one group, British as another,
Americans as yet another based on the similarity of nationalities.

Closure:
In many situation, the information what we intend to get may be in bits and pieces and not fully
complete in all respects. However, we tend to fill up the gaps in the missing parts and making it as
meaningful whole. Such mental process of filling up the missing element is called as closure. For
example, while giving promotions to the staff members, the managers will try to get full
information to make an effective decision, in absence of getting complete information, managers try
to make meaningful assumptions and based on that suitable decision will be made.

21
 Unit - III
Attitude and Values

Attitude - Defination

An attitude is generally defined as a way a person responds to his or her environment, either
positively or negatively. This attitude can have a conscious and subconscious aspect.

Attitude can be characterized in three ways:

• First, they tend to persist unless something is done to change them.

• Second, attitudes can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very
unfavorable.

• Third, attitudes are directed toward some object about which a person has
feelings( sometimes called “affect”) and beliefs.

Components of Attitudes

The three basic components of attitude are cognitive, Affective and Behavioural part.

• Cognitive Component of Attitude refers to opinion or belief part of attitude. When you form
your opinion or judgment on the basis of available information and decide whether you have
a favorable or unfavorable opinion on that, it the cognitive part of attitude we are talking
about.
• Affective Component of Attitude refers to the emotional aspect of attitude. This is perhaps
the most often referred part of attitude and decides mostly the desirable or undesirable aspect
attitude.
• Behavioral Component of Attitude refers to the behavioral part of attitude. If we have a
positive attitude for a particular object, it is likely to be translated into a particular type of
behavior, such as buying or procuring that object.

Formation of Attitude

How attitudes are formed? How do you develop your attitude? Essentially attitudes are the outward
manifestation of your inner values and beliefs. These develop over time. As you grow you watch
the significant people around you behaving in a particular way; you are being told to cherish certain
things over others and you learn from your teachers and peers and come to value certain thins over
other, thus forming your value system. These in turn give rise to development of your attitudes.

22
 • Attitudes help predict work behavior. The following example might help to illustrate it.
After introducing a particular policy, it is found from an attitude survey, that the workers are
not too happy about it. During the subsequent week it is found that the attendance of the
employees drops sharply from the previous standard. Here management may conclude that a
negative attitude toward new work rules led to increased absenteeism.

• Attitudes help people to adapt to their work environment. An understanding of attitudes

is also important because attitudes help the employees to get adjusted to their work. If the
management can successfully develop a- positive attitude among the employees, they will be
better adjusted to their work.

Functions of Attitude

Attitudes serve four important functions from the viewpoint of organizational behaviour. These are
as follows.
• The Adjustment Function. Attitudes often help people to adjust to their work environment.
Well-treated employees tend to develop a positive attitude towards their job, management
and the organization in general while berated and ill treated organizational members develop
a negative attitude. In other words, attitudes help employees adjust to their environment and
form a basis for future behaviour.

• Ego-Defensive Function. Attitudes help people to retain their dignity and self- image. When
a young faculty member who is full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm, joins the organization,
the older members might feel somewhat threatened by him. But they tend to disapprove his
creative ideas as ‘crazy’ and ‘impractical’ and dismiss him altogether.

• The Value-Expressive Function. Attitudes provide individuals with a basis for expressing
their values. For example, a manager who values hard and sincere work will be more vocal
against an employee who is having a very casual approach towards work.

• The Knowledge Function. Attitudes provide standards and frames of reference that allow
people to understand,and perceive the world around him. If one has a strong negative
attitude towards the management, whatever the management does, even employee welfare
programmes can be perceived as something ‘bad’ and as actually against them.

23
Changing Attitudes

Employees attitudes can be changed and sometimes it is in the best interests of managements to try
to do so. For example, if employees believe that their employer does not look after their welfare, the
management should try to change their attitude and help develop a more positive attitude in them.
However, the process of changing the attitude is not always easy. There are some barriers wliich
have to be overcome if one strives to change somebody’s attitude. There are two major categories of
barriers that come in the way of changing attitudes:

1. Prior commitment when people feel a commitment towards a particular course of action that
have already been agreed upon and thus it becomes difficult for them to change or accept the
new ways of functioning.

2. Insufficient information also acts as a major barrier to change attitudes. Sometimes people
simply see any reason to change their attitude due to unavailability of adequate information.

Some of the possible ways of changing attitudes are described below.

Providing New Information. Sometimes a dramatic change in attitude is possible only by

providing relevant and adequate information to the person concerned. Scanty and incomplete
information can be a major reason for brewing negative feeling and attitudes.

Use of Fear. Attitudes can be changed through the use of fear. People might resort to change their
work habit for the fear of fear of unpleasant consequences. However, the degree of the arousal of
fear will have to be taken into consideration as well.

Resolving Discrepancies: Whenever “people face “a dilemma or conflicting situation they feel
confused in choosing a particular course of action. Like in the case where one is to choose from”
between two alternative courses of action, it is often become difficult for him to decide which is
right for him. Even when he chooses one over the other, he might still feel confused. If some one
helps him in pointing out the positive points in favour of the chosen course of action, he person
might resolve the his dilemma.

Influence of friends and peers A very effective way of changing one’s attitude is through his
friends and colleagues. Their opinion and recommendation for something often proves to be more
important. If for example, they are all praise for a particular policy introduced in the work place,
chances are high that an individual will slowly accept that even when he had initial reservations for
that.

24
Co-opting. If you want to change the attitude of some body who belongs to a different group, it is
often becomes very effective if you can include him in your own group. Like in the case of the
union leader who are all the time vehemently against any management decision, can be the person
who takes active initiative in implementing a new policy when he had participated in that decision
making process himself.

Values
Defining Values
Values can be personal, cultural, traditional, or a combination of internal and external factors.
Values determine what an individual finds important in their daily lives and help to shape that
individual's behavior in a given situation.
Values in the Workplace
Tolerance of differences is stressed in the workplace; however, the safety of employees must take
precedence. If an individual's values are in conflict with social norms and may harm co-workers,
then disciplinary action and possible termination are permissible.

Values can have a positive affect on employees. If an employee values honesty, hard work, and
discipline, then he or she will make an effort to exhibit those traits in the workplace. This makes
them an efficient employee and a positive role model in the workplace. An issue can develop,
however, when a person realizes that there are others who don't share their values around them. If a
person values hard work and they see employees who are goofing off and not being reprimanded,
then the employee may resent their behavior. While resentment is an acceptable response, the
employee shouldn't attempt to harm the co-worker in any way in order to force his or her value
system on them. If management creates a mission statement and has an idea of the kind of values
they want their company to project, then they can seek candidates who have similar traits. This will
help reduce possible friction in the workplace and help foster a positive work environment.

Types of Values

1. Rokeach's Classification
Milton Rokeach, an expert who has done extensive research in the area of human values, has
identified two types of values:

a) Terminal Values

b) Instumental Values

25
“Terminal value” is the goal an individual would like to achieve during his lifetime. “Instumental
value”, on the other hand, is the tool of achieving the terminal value.

2. Allport's classification
Allport and his team in their study classified values into six types:
Economics – To give importance to what is useful.
Theoretical – To discover truth
Polotical – To gain power
Social – To show love and affection
Aesthetic – To admire what is beautiful and artistic
Religious – To attach importance to unity
Job Satisfaction
Job satisfaction can be defined as an individual’s overall attitude towards his or her job. It is a
positive state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job or job experience. It is regarded both as a
general attitude as well as satisfaction with specific dimensions of the job such as pay, the work
itself, promotion opportunities, supervision, co- workers etc. The degree of satisfaction may vary
with how well outcomes fulfill or exceed expectations.

There are various theories of job satisfaction. The human relations movement suggested that real
satisfaction with job could only be provided by allowing individuals enough responsibility and
freedom to enable them to grow mentally while physical/ economic school emphasized the role of
the physical arrangement of work, physical working conditions and pay. In recent years, the attitude
of job satisfaction has come to be linked with broader approach to improve the job design, work
organization and quality of life.

Measuring Job Satisfaction,its Determinants and Consequence

Measuring job satisfaction has been a challenging process to managers. Several techniques have
been developed over the years which are used extensively and are of great importance for
practitioners. For instance individuals are made to recall some of the important and critical incidents
which have caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction to them and conclusions are drawn from such
exercises. In another method a small group of employees are brought together and encouraged to
openly share their feeling regarding their job. In group environment people feel free to talk about
various things. Researchers have identified several factors leading to job satisfaction which are
broadly divided into two categories, namely, Organizational Factors and Individual Determinants.

26
Organizational Factors

1 Reward System: The organizationalreward system has been found tobe related to job satisfaction.
This pertains to how fairly pay benefits and promotions are distributed.

2 Work: The nature of work contributes heavily. The factors such as flexibility, freedom
anddiscretion available in the performance of one’s job bring a lot of job satisfaction.

3 Supervisory Behavior: Satisfaction tends to be higher when employees believe that their
supervisor is competent and considerate.

4 Working Conditions: Overall working conditions in an organization have a direct bearing on the
level of satisfaction. Comfort, salary, challenge and resource availability are main components of
working conditions.

Individual behaviour

Various individual and socio-economic variables are linked to job satisfaction. Researchers have
found that younger people are more satisfied. Similarly men are more influenced than women if
they are provided more autonomy in their work.

There is a direct link between job satisfaction and performance of an employee.

A satisfied worker makes extra efforts leading to better performance in his or her work.

There is higher outcome in an organization if employees are more satisfied. Similarly it leads to
decrease in absenteeism if employees are more satisfied in their jobs. It also leads to creativity
among employees and better mental health.

Consequences of Job Dissatisfaction

1. It may increase the rate of labour – turnover

2. It may lead to poor job performance
3. There may be an increase in complaints and grievances.
4. Conflicts in the workplace may also increase.
5. It may give scope for strikes and lock-outs.
6. It may disturb stability.

27
Steps to improve job satisfaction
1. Selection of right man for the right job.
2. Payment commensurate with the employee's credentials.
3. Conducive working enviroment.
4. Cordial superieor-subordinate relationship.
5. Better inter-personal relationship.
6. Privision of suitable promotion opportunities.
7. Creation of facilities for training.

LEARNING

Meaning:

Modification of behaviour taking place through observation, training or practice is

what is called learning.

Definition:

“ Relatively permanent change in behaviour potentiality that results from reinforced

practice or experience”- STEERS AND LYMAN

Nature (or) Characteristics of learning:

Learning results in change in behaviour

• The change may be good or bad
• The change must be relatively permanent
• A mere change in ones thought process or attitude is not learning
• Any positive change has to be permanent
• Learning is the continuous process
• Any change in behaviour due to ageing, illness or injury is not the result of learning

Factors determining learning:

 Motivation
 Feedback
 Reinforcement
 Environment
 Practice
 Meaningfulness of the subject
 Time schedule

28
Motivation:

Nothing occurs without motivation. Needless to say, for learning too motivation is essential.

Feedback:
It is important that the learner gets feedback information of his performance at
regular intervals. This enables him to know how far he is progressing and where he stands in
relation to requirements.

Reinforcement:

In the context of organisational behaviour, reinforcement is anything done to strengthen

or support desired behaviour. This increases the frequency of desirable behaviour.

Environment:

The physical environment, first of all, must be conducive for learning. The inter-
personal relationship that determines the social environment is equally important.

Practice:

Practice makes man perfect. The term practice has greater relevance in learning. It
helps to sustain certain desired behaviour.

Meaningfulness of the subject:

Learning is meaningful if the subject-matter is meaningful. It may be mentioned here that

the youth of today show keen interest in learning anything that is vital for their career-computer,
foreign languages etc.

Time schedule:

The duration of the practical sessions, he time given for rest are some of the other
determinants of learning. If the time given for practical work is too short, it will not be of any
help to the learner.

Theories on learning:

The following are the important theories on learning:

 Classical conditioning theory

 Operant conditioning theory
 Cognitive theory
 Social learning theory

Let as now discus these theories

29
Classical conditioning theory:

The classical conditioning theory has some relevance in behaviour in workplaces.

Operant conditioning theory:

The operant conditioning theory, thus, focus on the relationship between behaviour and its
consequences.

Cognitive theory:

The conditioning theories (classical conditioning as well as operant conditioning)

explained learning through the ‘stimulus-response’ association. But these theories did not
emphasise on the process of receiving memorising, interpreting and reacting to stimuli, which is
vital in learning. This limitation is overcome by the cognitive theory.

Social learning theory:

The social learning theory is based on the view that a person learn by observing others-
parents, teachers, friends, film artist, superiors and fellow-workmen. Learning, thus, occurs due
to the influence of the role.
Let as now discus these theories

Classical conditioning theory:

The classical conditioning theory has some relevance in behaviour in workplaces.

Operant conditioning theory:

The operant conditioning theory, thus, focus on the relationship between behaviour and its
consequences.

Cognitive theory:

The conditioning theories (classical conditioning as well as operant conditioning)

explained learning through the ‘stimulus-response’ association. But these theories did not
emphasise on the process of receiving memorising, interpreting and reacting to stimuli, which is
vital in learning. This limitation is overcome by the cognitive theory.

Social learning theory:

The social learning theory is based on the view that a person learn by observing others-
parents, teachers, friends, film artist, superiors and fellow-workmen. Learning, thus, occurs due
to the influence of the role.

30
 Unit - IV
Group Behaviour

INTRODUCTION

The essential feature of a group is that its members regard themselves as belonging to the group. A
group is defined as any number of people who:

• interact with one another;

• are psychologically aware of one another; and
• perceive themselves to be a group.

A work group is a collection of people who share most, if not all, of the following characteristics:

• a definable membership;
• groups consciousness;
• a sense of shared purposes;
• interdependence; and
• ability to act in a unitary manner.

FORMATION OF GROUPS
Tuckman (1965) devised a model of group formation which consists of the following five stages as
shown in Table 1: Group Formation.

Stage 1 – Forming

This refers to initial formation of the group where tasks have to be understood,resources and
information acquired, individuals have to get to know one another andthere is considerable reliance
on the leader.

Stage 2 – Storming

It represents the period when problems begin to be faced more openly than in the earlier stage.
Individuals begin to question or challenge the task and have to confront emotional issues between
and among themselves.

Stage 3 – Norming

This period of relative upheaval moves into a more considered stage where conflicts are settled,
new standards are developed and owned by the members. Cooperation really takes off.

31
 Stage 4 – Performing

This stage opens the way for the most productive moment when the group is
working effectively both in terms of goals and its internal relationships. Teamwork
develops and solutions are found.
Stage 5 – Adjourning

This stage underlines the fact that a group’s life will eventually come to an end as people move on
elsewhere in the organization or as original purpose is attained and the job is completed.

FORMAL AND INFORMAL GROUPS

Work groups are divided into two namely, formal and informal groups.

Formal groups
These are the units that are established by management as part of an
organizational structure. They are defined in terms of their purpose and roles. They are
official in the sense that they have appropriate authority and they are provided with
financial and physical resources. The groups are to:
further the aims and objectives of the organization as laid down in mission statements, policies and
routine procedures; think of organizations being mainly composed of such formal groups.

CHARACTERISTICS OF INFORMAL GROUPS

These are employee centered groups whose aims and intentions may counter those of the official
organization. The characteristics of the informal group are that: -

• they draw their norms (rules) of behavior from amongst themselves;

• their first loyalty tends to be towards their fellow group members rather than to the
organization as a whole.
• their goals are decided more by what they feel is right for them rather than by what is laid
down for them by the management;
• their behavior is derived more from interpersonal relationships than by any role allocated by
the management.

32
 • their behavior may or may not be in line with what their organization expects;
• they generally meet social and security needs before other needs;
• group leadership is exercised on a charismatic basis rather than by legitimate authority;
• they are less permanent than formal groups
KEY ISSUES IN GROUP BEHAVIOR

In examining the behavior of people in groups, whether formal or informal, there are a number of
key issues that have to be considered and these are: -

1. Group size

The size of a group is one factor that can determine its likely behavior. Large groups: -

• require a higher degree of formalization than smaller;

• require clearer lines of communication;
• tend to pay less attention to the needs of individuals than smaller groups.
• concentrate more on task requirements than personal issues;
• are more susceptible to the development of such - groups than smaller groups which are
likely;

2. Purpose of group

Work - groups are assigned definite purpose within the organizational structure. Work - groups are
often asked to focus their efforts on specific problems, usually of a short-term nature. Some groups
are especially set up for this very purpose, such as task- forces, working parties and project groups.
Short-term tasks are usually allocated some explicit time limit.

3. Nature of task

The nature of the task is broadly decided in terms of the group’s purpose and objectives. A fairly
specific task and outcome will demand different quantities from the group compared with, say a
generally-stated problem requiring further questions to be asked. Some types of the tasks can be: -

33
 • Ongoing or routine;
• Implementing new process or procedures;
• Creating new ideas;
• Solving specific problems or issues;
• Important negotiations with customers or competitors.
GROUP LEADERSHIP
In a formal group, a leader is formally appointed by management to take charge of the role. It is
the leader who has the responsibility of keeping the group together when difficulties arise. Thus,
there will always be a requirement for an effective leader. An autocratic leader will always take the
decisions for the group, but a democratic leader will discuss possible decisions with the group
before making a choice and may even let manother group member take charge temporarily. The
main role of the format leader is to use the resources of the group members to the full, gain their
commitment to the task and achieve the result set by management.
NATURE AND MOTIVATION OF GROUP MEMBERS
There is need for any group to have an appropriate mix of skills; knowledge and talents, for these
represent its main resources. Groups with specific purpose or under pressure will need sufficient
common values among members, otherwise they will fall apart and be unable to complete their
objectives. A substantial degree of commitment to the group’s tasks is needed if the tasks are to be
achieved successfully. Part of the individual motivation has to be the thought that the others are
relying on him/her and that the team’s performance is just as crucial as individual performance.
Team-spirit is an aspect of group cohesiveness.
GROUP COHESIVENESS
A cohesive group has strong bonds that bind the members in loyalty to and support for each other.
A cohesive group develops clear standards of behavior (norms) which are accepted by the
members. Sometimes this can be a positive thing, where true team-spirit and collaboration are the
order of the day. It can also not negatively affect the group’s standards to a point of oppressing
individual members, especially those seeking changes in the group’s behavior (Janis, 1982).
Cohesiveness develops over time. New groups usually lack this quality precisely because they are
a new assembly of people who know very little about their task and each other. An important
aspect of the group leader’s task is to achieve a measure of cohesiveness. Other factors that
influence the degree of

34
cohesiveness are as follows: -
• Similarity of task in achieving group goals;
• Interdependent operations;
• Leadership capabilities of the appointed leader;
• Extent to which group goals are shared by group members;
• Extent to which members want to work together;
• Prospect of rewards for group achievements; and
• Prospect of threats from external sources etc.
Groups which are very cohesive are insulated - against external forces, and change is unlikely to
be accepted if imposed from outside. In such groups, change must come from within. Thus,
cohesive groups, both formal and informal, can represent a threat to management’s corporate aims
and authority. In such circumstances it is easy to understand why weak managements often prevent
bonding in groups, adopting “a divide and rule tactic” in order to retain control. On the contrary,
actively stimulate team-spirit in work-groups, but do so in the context of a carefully- tended
organizational culture.

GROUP NORMS
Norms are the standards adopted by a group. Most of these standards will be contained in written
policies and operating manuals. They will also be emphasized by the personal behavior of
managers and supervisors. The role of the managers is to insist onadherence to official norms. Part
of the function of the organizational culture is to encourage adherence to organization-wide norms
e.g. attention to quality. In a new group where new standards have been introduced, there is a
period when the norms come to be challenged by individuals and the group. Unofficial norms are
those norms which arise from amongst the group members. However management cannot stop
unofficial norms from developing but what they can do is to: -

35
 • recognize them when they arise;
• encourage them if they are in line with organizational interests;
• aim to transform them if they appear to be working against the organization's interests.
Ultimately management has the power to disband and reform groups, if they appear to be
getting too far out of line.

ROLES WITHIN GROUPS

Roles are parts that individual members of a group play. The parts are determined
partly by the expectation of the management through job descriptions and partly by the
expectations of the others in the group. In formal groups, parts are mostly allocated in
conjunction with job functions. In informal groups, roles are likely to spring from: -

• the relevant knowledge or skills possessed by individuals.

• personal qualities that have a stronger influence on informal groups where for example, a
natural leader may emerge.

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

The context in which group operates can be described from the perspective of:

• the physical environment;

• the social context.
Most of the issues described earlier refer to the group’s internal environment – its organization,
personnel, role requirements etc. However, the group life that springs from that internal
environment influences, is also influenced by what goes on in the external environment.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT

If a team is working in close proximity, there will be ample opportunity to develop an

understanding of each other’s and experience collaboration. If problems arise, they can be dealt
with quickly and everyone can be consulted.

36
Where a team is a scattered then it is more difficult to build up team spirit, assess each other’s
strengths and weaknesses and confront problems speedily. Hence pressure is on team managers to
call for regular team-meetings and to maintain close contact by telephone, fax etc. Regular
information bulletins are sometimes used by sales managers to help keep everyone in the team
aware of what is happening elsewhere in the company.

Occasionally, a managing director gathers all key staff at a suitable off-site location in order to
spend a day or two reviewing strategy or dealing with difficult problems.

SOCIAL CONTEXT
Social context is extremely important in the life of a group. The organizational environment is a
reflection of people and their needs and intentions. Outsiders, such as customers can make an
impact on the social environment by insisting on certain standards of employee behavior or
particular arrangements for structuring relationships between themselves and the employees they
have to deal with.

DECISION - MARKING IN GROUPS

Although some day-to-day decisions are made by individual managers and employees, there are
certain kinds of decisions which are generally handled by groups. These tend to be the kinds of
decisions that require a number of minds to wrestle with them either: -

• because of their complexity; or

• because they need to be acceptable to a majority of those responsible for implementing
them. Comple

Work Stress
The variour factors that cause stress can be grouped under:
i) Personal Factors
ii) Organisational factors

37
Personal Factors
• Ability
• Perception
• Manner of approaching crisis
• Level of self-confidence
• Experience
• Desire for work
• Beliefs
Ability:
The mental and physical capacity of a person to face cirtical situations in life is probably
one of the important personal factors causing stress.

Perception:
What is considered a critical situation by some may not be considered as such by others. In
fact, whether a problemtic situation has arisen in the organisation or not depends upon the
perception of the people who are employed in it.

Manner of Approaching crisis:

How a person approaches his task when there is a crisis is yet another cause of stress. Some
people perform well when there is a critical situation.

Level of self-confidence:
Some people basically lack self-confidence. Needless to say, in a crisis for such people the
level of self-confidence deteriorates further and affects performance. People who have supreme
self-confidence are not likely to undergo stress.

Experience:
Well-experienced employees would have come across difficult situations several times in
their career and therefore are aware of the tactics to be used.

38
Desire for work:
The desire of an employee for work is another important personal factor. An employee with
a desire for work is always keen on performing his task and only completion of the task will give
him peace and happiness.

Beliefs:
An employee who firmly believes that systematic work will pay rich dividends does not feel
the work pressure and therefore is not likely to experience stress.
Organisational factors

• Nature of job
• Superior-subordinate relationships
• Inter-personal relationships
• Target to be reached
• Time pressure
• Physical working conditions
• Opportunities to advancement
• Hours of work
• Disparity in pay and other benefits

Nature of job
An employee who has to face greater challenges in his job, almost on a daily basis,
undergoes stress often. It may not be so in the case of employees doing routine work.

Superior-subordinate relationships
Cordial Superior-subordinate relationships is essential for the smooth functioning of any
organisation. If the superiors adopt a friendly approach in their dealings with the subordinate staff
and are perpared to offer any kind of help, the subordinates working under such superiors are not
likely to experience stress.

39
Inter-personal relationships
Another organisational factor contributing to stress is the existence of strained relationships
among the employees. Inter-personal relationships get strained due to unresolved conflicts.

Target to be reached
An employee who is not able to attain the target set for him either because the target is
unreasonable or he is ill-equipped or the internal and external forces are not conducive he develops
frustration.
Time pressure
The target to be attained by an employee is always with reference to a time-frame.If the
employee is unable to cope with work pressure he develops mental and physical stress.

Physical working conditions

The existence of improper working conditions may also contribute to job stress.It means
absence of physical facilities like lighting, ventilation, drinking water, toilets etc.

Opportunities to advancement
When an employee is deprived of the opportunities to move to higher positions due to
politics in the workplace, he is sure to get disappointed.

Hours of Work
If the hours of work are too long and the employee is made to work continuously without
the required interval breaks, he is sure to become tired physically as well as mentally.

Disparity in pay and other benefits

In some organisations there is often disparity in the payment of remuneration among
employees. Such discrimination gives scope for ill-feelings among employees and becomes a cause
for mental stress.

40
Consequences of Stress
Individual distress manifests in three basic forms: psychological disorders, medical illnesses, and
behavioral problems.
A person’s extreme involvement with his or her work could reap acute individual distress.
Work-related psychological disorders can lead to depression, burnout, and psychosomatic
disorders.
Psychosomatic disorders are physical problems that stem from a psychological root. A person
could have a problem with public speaking which could cause so much stress that the person's
brain would not allow the person to even speak.

41
Physiological reactions to stress can have consequences for health over time. Backaches, strokes,
heart disease, and peptic ulcers are just a few physical manifestations that can surface when too
much stress is applied.
A person can also show behavioral problems as a sign of distress. Some examples include
aggression, substance abuse, and accidents. This behavior could be caused by conflicts with others
or with work. It could also be brought on by variables outside of the workplace. Prolonged
occupational stress can lead to occupational burnout. Psychological disorders, medical illnesses,
and behavioral problems are extremely burdensome to the individual, and when not taken care of
can result in organizational distress.

Organizational Distress
The spectrum of effects caused by occupational stress includes absenteeism, poor decision making,
lack of creativity, accidents, organizational breakdown, or even sabotage. Participation problems
and compensation awards have opposite affects on an organization. Participation problems such as
absenteeism, tardiness, strikes and work stoppages, and turnover bring serious costs to a company.
For example, if an employee is not performing up to par, he or she is fired and replaced with a
more productive employee who was hired at a higher pay rate than the previous. The company has
the productivity it needs, but at a cost.

Organizations can prevent employee stress in the following ways:

• Ensure that the workload is in line with workers' capabilities and resources
• Design jobs to provide meaning, stimulation, and opportunities for workers to use their
skills
• Clearly define workers' roles and responsibilities
• To reduce workplace stress, managers may monitor the workload given out to the
employees. Also, during training managers should alert employees to stress awareness.
• Give workers opportunities to participate in decisions and actions affecting their jobs
• Improve communications; reduce uncertainty about career development and future
employment prospects
• Provide opportunities for social interaction among workers
• Establish work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside the

42
 job
• Combat workplace discrimination (based on race, gender, national origin, religion or
language)
• Bring in an objective outsider, such as a consultant, to suggest a fresh approach to persistent
problems
• Introduce a participative leadership style and involve as many subordinates as possible in
resolving stress-producing problems

43
 Unit V
Leadership

most of us are familiar with the word ‘leader’. The word leadership can refer to the process
of leading, the concept of leading and those entities that perform one or more acts of leading. In our
day to day life, leadership can be viewed as either actual or potential.

 Actual leader gives guidance or direction, as in the phrase “the emperor has provided
satisfactory leadership”.
• Potential leader has the capacity or ability to lead, as in the phrase “she
could have exercised effective leadership”; or as implies in the concept “born to lead”.
Leadership can have a formal aspect (as in most political or business leadership)
or an informal one (as in most friendships). The abstract term “leadership” usually implies that the
entities doing the leading possess some “leadership skills” or competencies;
while the term “leading” suggests action of leading.

Several types of entities may provide or exhibit leadership, actual or potential. Leadership emerges
when an entity as “leader” contrives to receive deference from other entities who become
“followers”. The process of getting deference can become competitive in that the emerging “leader”
draws “followers” from the factions of the prior or alternative “leaders”.
In a democratic country, the people retain sovereignty (popular sovereignty)
but delegate day-to-day administrationand leadership to elected representatives.Competence or
perceived competence provides a possible basis for selectingleadership elites from a broader pool of
potential talent. Political lobbying mayprove necessary in electoral systems, but immediately
demonstrated skill andcharacter may secure leadership in smaller groups such as a service agency.

Many organizations and groups aim to identify, foster and promote what they see as leadership
potential or ability - especially among younger members of society. The issues of succession
planning or of legitimating a leader become important when leadership
(particularly individual leadership) might or must change due to term-expiry, accident or

Scope of Leadership
One can govern oneself, or one can govern the whole earth. In between, we may find leaders who

44
operate primarily within families, bands, tribes, states, nations or empires.
In addition to these, we also find, for example, religious leaders (potentially with their own internal
hierarchies), work-place leaders (executives, officers, senior/upper managers, middle managers,
staff-managers, line- managers, team-leaders, supervisors) and leaders of voluntary associations.
Believing that charisma and personality alone can work miracles, most leaders operate within a
structure of supporters and groups of executives who carry out and monitor the expressed or
filtered-down will of the leader. This
undercutting the importance of leadership may serve as a reminder of the existence of the follower.
A more or less formal bureaucracy can promote an ordinary personality as an entirely effective
leader. Bureaucratic organizations can also raise incompetent people to levels of leadership. These
leaders may build coalitions and alliances. Political parties abound with such leaders. Still others
depend on rapport with the masses: they labor on
the actual work place or stand in the front-line of battle, leading by example.
Qualities of Leadership
• Guiding others through providing a role model and through willingness to serve others first
• Talent and technical/specific skill at some task at hand
• Initiative and entrepreneurial driveCharismatic inspiration - attractiveness to others and the
ability to leverage this esteem to motivate others
• Preoccupation with a role – a dedication that consumes much of leaders’ life - service to a cause
• A clear sense of purpose (or mission) - clear goals - focus - commitment
• Results-orientation - directing every action towards a mission – prioritizing activities to spend
time where results most accrue
• Optimism - very few pessimists become leaders
• Rejection of determinism - belief in one’s ability to “make a difference
• Ability to encourage and nurture those that report to them – delegate in such a way as people
will grow
• Role models - leaders may adopt a persona that encapsulates their mission and lead by
example
• Self-knowledge (in non-bureaucratic structures)
• Self-awareness - the ability to “lead” (as it were) one’s own self prior to leading other selves
similarly

45
 • With regards to people and to projects, the ability to choose winners - recognizing that,
unlike with skills, one cannot (in general) teach attitude. Note that “picking winners”
(“choosing winners”) carries implications of gamblers’ luck as well as of the capacity to take
risks, but “true” leaders, like gamblers but unlike “false” leaders, base their decisions on
realistic insight (and usually on many other factors partially derived from “real” wisdom).
• Understanding what others say, rather than listening to how they say things - this could
partly sum this quality up as “walking in someone else’s shoes” (to use a common cliché).

Situational leadership theory (Stodgdill 1957) proceeds from the assumption that different
situations call for different traits. According to this group of theories, no single optimal
psychographic profile of a leader exists. It has been said that leadership behavior
becomes a function not only of the characteristics of the leader, but of the characteristics of
followers as well. Other situational leadership models introduce a variety of variables. These
variables include
• the nature of the task (structured or routine)
• organizational policies, climate, and culture
• the preferences of the leader’s superiors
• the expectations of peers
the reciprocal responses of followers Thus leadership is essentially about managing an organization
on the basis of certain individual and situational qualities of managers. But there are several variants
of leadership depending upon situation and kind of organization. An understanding of these various
categories will help the managers of Adult Learning Centers to run these centers in an efficient way.
Functions of a leader
1. Planning
2. Policy-making
3. Execution of plans and policies
4. Controlling internal relations
5. Representing the group
6. Providing reward and punishment
7. Settlement of disputes
8. Role-model
9. Inseparable from the group

46
10. Answerability
11.Adherence to value system
Leadership Styles

AUTOCRATIC

An autocratic leader dictates tasks and timelines to a group and imparts a strong focus on an
objective. At best, the autocratic leader leads a team to success under tight timelines and can be
especially functional for a team with inexperienced and/or unskilled members. At worst, the
autocratic leader denies input from all others and can dominate both task strategy and credit for
success.

DEMOCRATIC

The democratic leader involves team members in planning and decision-making, often through a
formal information gathering and/or voting process. At best the democratic leader encourages ideas
and input from all team members and motivates teams toward success. At worst, the democratic
leader can leave out input from less aggressive team members and override feedback from
members once a decision is made. Democratic leaders should be skilled in conflict resolution
techniques to illicit the optimum performance of a team.

EVALUATIVE

An evaluative leader focuses on information gathering and research from team members and
external sources in order to reach the best decision with a rationale to support it. At best, the
evaluative leader seeks expertise from within their team to form decisions and shares an
appreciation for inquiry and competence with the team. At worst, evaluative leaders may disregard
some members’ input. Evaluative leadership requires flexible and open cooperation to be effective

“LAISSEZ-FAIRE”

A “Laissez-Faire” leader gives little or no direction while providing feedback when prompted by
team members. At best, the laissez-faire leader promotes an acute sense of competence and
expertise in team members and allows others to rise to their performance potential. At worst, this
style can lack accountability for team failures and not adequately coach members to success who
may be uncomfortable in a self-directed environment by appearing to not care or be too busy to
properly lead.
COLLABORATIVE

47
The collaborative leader uses consensus building and other group process to arrive at mutually
beneficial decisions to maintain team motivation and buy-in. At best, participative and collaborative
leaders are viewed as endeared colleagues by their team and maintain individual team member’s
sense of value and contribution. At worst, participative leadership can botch the consensus process
and fail to manage conflict among the group, thereby failing to reach a decision or a task objective.

Collaborative leadership requires the ability to unite groups of interested and capable people around
a common need or vision and to facilitate the formulation of solutions and actions as determined by
the group.

Theories of Leadership

i) The Traits Theory

ii) The Behavioural Theory
iii) The situational Theory
iv) The Traits Theory

This theory is based on the assumption that a leader is a person who possesses certain
exceptional traits and qualities. Many such traits or qualities were identified. Those, who were
successful leaders in the past, were found to be having all such traits. These are:

• Intelligence
• Communication skills
• judgement
• Inquisitiveness
• Integrity
• Emotional stability
• Imagination
• Courage
• Knowlegde
• Initiative
• Sincerity
• Endurance
• Determination
• Mental ability
• Persuasion
• Physical appearance
A person with these qualities can certainly emerge as a successful leader. These qualities need not
always be inborn. These can be acquired through proper training.

48
ii)The Behavioural Theory

According to this theory, Leadership depends more on the acts of a person thean on his
personality traits. The behaviour of a person attracts many followers towards him. These followers
are ready to accept him as their leader as they are influenced and impressed by his behaviour. The
interaction between the leader, the followers , the goals and the environment will bring out the right
behaviour.

iii) Situational Theory

According to this theory, Leadership is much influenced by the environment or the situation
in which it is exercised. The style of leadership should change according to the situation. It,
therefore, becomes clear that there is no particular style of leadership that caan be universally
relevant. The leader, in order to be successful, should adapt himself to the situation.

Three major situational variables are found to influence the leader's effectiveness. They are:

a) The leader-subordinate relationship

b) The nature of the task of the subordinate
c) The ability of the leader to influence the subordinates.

Authority, Power and Politics

Organizations or voluntary associations, though rational entities, often do not follow strictly their
own well defined system leaving scope for power play and politics. It is therefore necessary to
understand the dynamics of power, politics and authority so that organizations can be managed in a
proper way. The concepts of authority, power and politics are inter-dependent in the sense that
politics - whether of the specifically governmental kind (political parties, pressure groups, etc.), the
economic kind (bureaucracies, the organization of the workplace into social hierarchies based upon
status, etc.) or the interpersonal (relations between males and females, children and adults, etc) -
involves the exercising of authority and power.
Distinction between Authority and Power
Though authority and power are terms quite often used interchangeably but they are quite different.
Specific differences can be described as below:
1 Authority is legally enforced and is derived from level of position in an organization. Power
however is individual and independent and originates from charisma and social

49
positioning.
2 Authority is formal based upon superior and subordinate relationship. Power is informal and is
based upon individual understanding.
3 Since authority is related with position in an organization, it has limited scope and is confined to
organizational structure whereas power is linked with an individual and transcends boundaries.
4 Authority is just and applied equally whereas power may be used indiscriminately.

Authority
Authority is corner stone of an organization. It can be defined as the ability of an individual to seek
compliance to the regulated instructions of the superior. It refers to the formal rights inherently
available to a manager to give orders and see their compliance.
According to Max Weber (1924), there are 3 types of authorities: Traditional, Rational and
Charismatic authority. Traditional authority rests on anestablished belief in the sanctity of
immortal traditions whereas legal authority rests on sheer legality of individual’s position.
Charismatic authority has its genesis in an individual’s personal charisma and qualities.

Characteristics of Authority
1 Authority resides in the position and is individual independent
2 Nature of authority i.e. Traditional, legal, charismatic, determines the nature of structure.
3 Authority is in proportion to levels in an organization.
4 Ideally there is a positive correlation between the authority and degree of competence.

Power
In social terms, power, almost by definition, involves the rule by the few over the majority and we
have to understand the political processes (both Structural and Interpersonal) whereby power is
legitimated (the process whereby power ceases to be nakedly
coercive and becomes power that is based upon authority. By power is meanthe ability of
individuals or groups to make their own concerns or interests count, even where others resist. Power
sometimes involves the direct use of force, but is almost always also accompanied by the
development of ideas (ideology) which justify the actions of the powerful. Politics, in this sense, is
a concept that can be defined as a process involving the “exercise of control, constraint and
coercion in society”.
Power which is derived from social positioning lacks legitimacy. It is dependent upon individual

50
strength and competencies. Depending upon situation, there are several kinds of power, some of
which are described below.

• Reward power
• Coercive power
• Legitimate power
• Personal power
• Expert power
• Referent power
Reward power:
The extent to which a manager can use extrinsic and intrinsic rewards to control other people is
described as reward power. success in accessing and utilizing rewards depends
on manager’s skills.
Coercive power:
The extents to which a manager can deny desired rewards or administer punishments to control
other people. Availability varies from one organization and manager to another.
Legitimate power:
The extent to which a manager can use subordinates’ internalized values or beliefs that the “boss”
has a “right of command” to control their behavior. If legitimacy is lost, authority will not be
accepted by subordinates.
Personal power :
Personal power is derived from individual sources.
Expert power:
Is ability to control another person’s behavior through the possession of knowledge, experience, or
judgment that the other person needs but does not have?
Referent power :
The ability to control another’s behavior because the person wants to identify with the power
source. It can be enhanced by linking to morality and ethics and long-term vision.
Indicators of power
• To save a person from a crisis
• To get a key position for self/someone.

51
 • To exceed the budget limit.
• To procure higher incentives for self/employees.
• To prescribe certain terms and conditions.
• To have access to early information.
• To advise top managment on important matters.
Indicators of Powerlessness
• Managers are powerlessness when they:
• Undertake close spervision of their subordinates.
• Perform the work of their subordinates.
• Face resistance from subordinates to any change.
• Find it difficult to ge the approval of the top management to any proposal.
Employees are powerless when they:
• Do not get pay proportionate to their work.
• Cannot express their grievances.
• Face vindictive measures of the management often e.g., getting memos, suspension orders
and so on.
Politics
What are organizational politics? Since organizations do not follow their systems and procedures
fairly, there is lot of politics. It essentially implies lot of maneuverability in the allocation of
responsibilities, rewards and resources. Politics is the use of power to develop
socially acceptable ends and means that balance individual and collective interests.
Political behavior may take many forms. It may comprise passing a chain of commands,
withholding information, spreading rumors, leaking confidential information, lobbying, using
pressure tactics etc. The following are the characteristics and reasons of political
behavior
• It is outside one’s job requirements
• It is an attempt to influence the
decision making process.
• It may involve give and take strategy.
• It is usually devoid of morality and

52
ethics.
A number of factors can lead to political behavior. If there is lack of clarity in organizational
policies and presence of over ambitious individuals in workforce is higher, there are more chances
of politics. Limited promotional avenues, discriminatory behavior of management
can aggravate political behavior. There are several ways in which politics takes place in
organizations.
Feyol (1949) describes the following political strategies.
• Impression Management: An attempt is made to create an impression that everything is
good because of us and anything wrong has nothing to do with us.
• Extra Role Relationship: Flattery, creating goodwill and being overtly friendly are some of
the tactics through which political behavior is promoted.
• Coalition: Like minded people come together and promote a particular cause which is
essentially political in nature.
Factors contributing to Organisational Politics
• Career advancement
• Financial needs
• Desire for autority
• Performance appraisal
• Promotion and Transfer
• Style of leadership

Measures to limit the Advese Effects of Politics

The following measures may help to limit the adverse effects of organisational politics:
Making policies and procedures clear
• Top Management to play a greater role
• Top officials to Act as Role Models
• Warnings : If any person in the organisation is found to be indulging in politics, he must be
warned and informed that no such act would be tolerated in future.
• Objective Assessment of Performance
• Bargaining: Bargaining, negotiations etc. are used to get extra benefits which are normally
not available.

53