UNIT-2

Q1. Define Motivation. Discuss the various theories of motivation.

Ans. Motivation is a state of mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which
drives a person to work in a certain way to achieve desired goals. Motivation is
a force which pushes people to work with a high level of commitment and
focus, even if things are going against them. Motivation translates into a
certain kind of human behaviour.  In short, motivation is the driving force
behind human actions.
 Various psychologists have studied human behaviour and have formalized
their findings in the form of various motivational theories. Psychologists have
proposed many different theories of motivation. Some of the most famous
motivational theories include the following: 

1. Maslow’s theory of hierarchical needs 

Abraham Maslow postulated that a person will be motivated when all his needs are
fulfilled. People do not work for security or money, but they work to contribute and to
use their skills. He demonstrated this by creating a pyramid to show how people are
motivated and mentioned that ONE CANNOT ASCEND TO THE NEXT LEVEL
UNLESS LOWER-LEVEL NEEDS ARE FULFILLED. The lowest level needs in the
pyramid are basic needs and unless these lower-level needs are satisfied people do
not look at working toward satisfying the upper-level needs.  

Below is the hierarchy of needs: 

 Physiological needs: are basic needs for survival such as air, sleep, food,
water, clothing, sex, and shelter. 
 Safety needs: Protection from threats, deprivation, and other dangers
(e.g., health, secure employment, and property) 
 Social (belongingness and love) needs: The need for association,
affiliation, friendship, and so on. 
 Self-esteem needs:  The need for respect and recognition. 
 Self-actualization needs:  The opportunity for personal development,
learning, and fun/creative/challenging work.  Self-actualization is the
highest-level need to which a human being can aspire. 
 2. Hertzberg’s two factor theory 

Frederick Herzberg approached the question of motivation in a different way.

By asking individuals what satisfies them on the job and what dissatisfies them,
Herzberg came to the conclusion that aspects of the work environment that
satisfy employees are very different from aspects that dissatisfy them.
Herzberg labelled factors causing dissatisfaction of workers as “hygiene”
factors because these factors were part of the context in which the job was
performed, as opposed to the job itself. Hygiene factors included company
policies, supervision, working conditions, salary, safety, and security on the job
In contrast, motivators are factors that are intrinsic to the job, such as
achievement, recognition, interesting work, increased responsibilities,
advancement, and growth opportunities. According to Herzberg’s research,
motivators are the conditions that truly encourage employees to try harder.

3. McClelland’s theory of needs 

McClelland affirms that we all have three motivating drivers, which do not
depend on our gender or age. One of these drives will be dominant in our
behaviour. The dominant drive depends on our life experiences.  
The three motivators are: 
 Achievement:  a need to accomplish and demonstrate own
competence. People with a high need for achievement prefer tasks that
provide for personal responsibility and results based on their own
efforts.  They also prefer quick acknowledgement of their progress. 
 Affiliation: a need for love, belonging and social acceptance. People with
a high need for affiliation are motivated by being liked and accepted by
others.  They tend to participate in social gatherings and may be
uncomfortable with conflict. 
 Power: a need for controlling own work or the work of others. People
with a high need for power desire situations in which they exercise
power and influence over others.  They aspire for positions with status
and authority and tend to be more concerned about their level of
influence than about effective work performance. 
 4. McGregor’s theory X and theory Y 

They refer to two styles of management – authoritarian (Theory X) and

participative (Theory Y). 
Theory X: Managers who accept this theory believe that if you feel that
your team members dislike their work, have little motivation, need to be
watched every minute and are incapable of being accountable for their work,
avoid responsibility and avoid work whenever possible, then you are likely to
use an authoritarian style of management. According to McGregor, this
approach is very "hands-on" and usually involves micromanaging people's
work to ensure that it gets done properly.  
Theory Y: Managers who accept this theory believe that if people are willing to
work without supervision, take pride in their work, see it as a challenge and
want to achieve more, they can direct their own efforts, take ownership of
their work and do it effectively by themselves. These managers use a
decentralized, participative management style.   

5. Alderfer’s ERG Theory

His theory suggests that there are three groups of core needs: existence (E),
relatedness (R), and growth (G). These groups are aligned with Maslow’s levels
of physiological needs, social needs, and self-actualization needs, respectively. 
Existence needs concern our basic material requirements for living, which
include what Maslow categorized as physiological needs such as air, sleep,
food, water, clothing, sex and shelter and safety-related needs such as health,
secure employment, and property. 
Relatedness needs have to do with the importance of maintaining
interpersonal relationships. These needs are based in social interactions with
others and are aligned with Maslow’s levels of love/belonging-related needs
such as friendship, family and sexual intimacy and esteem-related needs such
as gaining the respect of others. 
Growth needs describe our intrinsic desire for personal development. These
needs are aligned with the other part of Maslow’s esteem-related needs such
as self-esteem, self-confidence, and achievement and self-actualization needs
such as morality, creativity, problem-solving and discovery. 
Q2. Define the concept and meaning of Leadership. Discuss the Likert’s
Leadership styles.
Leadership is essentially a continuous process of influencing behaviour. It may
be considered in context of mutual relations between a leader and his
followers. The leader tries to influence the behaviour of individuals or group of
individuals around him to achieve desired goals.
Leadership is a dynamic process, which deserves study. It is a relational process
involving interactions among leaders, members and sometimes outside
constituencies. Good leaders are made not born. If you have the desire and
willpower, you can become an effective leader.
Rensis Likert established management styles called Likert's management
systems in the 1960s. To characterize the interaction, engagement, and roles
of managers and subordinates in industrial contexts, he proposed four
management systems.
The Likert’s Management system consisted of four styles and they are
Exploitative Authoritative, Benevolent Authoritative, Consultative and
Participative. The four styles were developed with a lot of research and
observation. These systems indicate the stages of evolution of patterns of
management in different organizations.
1. Exploitative Authoritative System
Under this style Likert states that the ultimate power lies in the hands of
the top subordinates. The Top management makes the policies and rules
and the employees in the lower level are bound to follow the
instructions given to them by their superiors. Here, it is observed that
the workers at the lower level do not feel free to discuss their work with
their superiors. The communication and teamwork in this system are
very little. The leaders in the system of Exploitative authoritative have a
lower level of concern for their employees. They use threats or methods
that involve fear to achieve their work. The method of threat works well
and the employees work efficiently upon entering the organization. The
leaders are ignorant of the psychological feelings of the employees and
the communication between them is almost nil. In this type of system,
the upper management burdens employees with a heavy workload and
they are to finish the work without fail. The monetary benefits and work
satisfaction in this type of system is very less. 
2. Benevolent Authoritative System
Under this system of Likert’s, it is observed that the authority lies in the
hands of the managers and not in the hands of the lower-level workers.
The superiors have a small amount of confidence and trust in the
employees. The superiors have less control over the employees. They do
not use methods of threats. However, the employees are rewarded and
punished as per their performance in the organization. In this system of
management, the employees are involved in some of the decision
making processes. But the ultimate power lies in the hands of the
superiors. Here also the communication is very little and the employees
do not feel free to share their work experience with the superiors. 

3. Consultative System
This is the third style of leadership given by Likert. In this system, Likert
has stated that responsibility and authority are spread widely
throughout the organization. The subordinates in the different levels of
the organizations are given different responsibilities. The employees and
subordinates work as a team on certain decisions. There is fair
communication between the employees and the superiors. However,
the power to form policies and rules lies in the hands of the top
management. Under this system, the employees are rewarded for better
performance and at the same time, they are also punished for bad
performances. The employees are free to communicate with their
superiors and subordinates. They can share their work-related issues
with the superiors freely. The system promotes a healthy work
environment for the employees and motivates them to work efficiently.

4. Participative System
This is the last style of leadership given by Likert. Under this style, Likert
states that the power and responsibility to achieve the goals of the
organization is distributed among all the employees and subordinates in
the organization. According to this system, each employee has a certain
role to play in the success of the organization. The superiors have the
utmost confidence and trust in their employees. The employees are
made to participate in the decision-making process of the organization.
The system states that there is a continuous flow of information in both
an upward and downward direction. The employees are provided with a
 healthy work environment and they are motivated continuously by their
superiors.

Q3. Discuss the various theories of Leadership.

Leadership theories are schools of thought brought forward to explain how
and why certain individuals become leaders. The theories emphasize
the traits and behaviours that individuals can adopt to boost their own
leadership abilities.
Early studies on the psychology of leadership pointed to the fact that
leadership skills are inherent abilities that people are born with. It was not
until recently that formal leadership theories emerged, despite leadership
becoming a concept of interest at the beginning of time.
The following are the different type’s theories which are discussed below:
A. TRAIT THEORY:
The Trait Theory is very similar to the Great Man Theory. It is founded on
the characteristics of different leaders – both the successful and
unsuccessful ones. The theory is used to predict effective leadership.
Usually, the identified characteristics are compared to those of potential
leaders to determine their likelihood of leading effectively.
Scholars researching the trait theory try to identify leadership
characteristics from different perspectives. They focus on the
physiological attributes such as appearance, weight, and height;
demographics such as age, education, and familial background; and
intelligence, which encompasses decisiveness, judgment, and
knowledge.

B. BEHAVIOUR THEORY:
In Behavioral Theory, the focus is on the specific behaviors and actions
of leaders rather than their traits or characteristics. The theory suggests
that effective leadership is the result of many learned skills. Some of the
important behavioral theories are:

i) OHIO STATE STUDIES: They found two critical characteristics of

leadership either of which could be high or low or independent of
one another. The research was based on questionnaires to leaders
 and subordinates of the organizations. These are known as the
Leader Behaviour Description Questionnaire (LDBQ) and the
Supervisor Behaviour Description Questionnaire (SBDQ). The Ohio
State Leadership Studies also showed that initiating structure and
consideration are two distinct dimensions and not mutually
exclusive.

ii) MICHIGAN STUDIES: It intended to identify the principles and

types of leadership styles that led to greater productivity and
enhanced job satisfaction among workers. The studies identified
two broad leadership styles: an employee orientation and a
production orientation. They also identified three critical
characteristics of effective leaders: task-oriented behaviour,
relationship-oriented behaviour, and participative leadership.

iii) LMX THEORY: According to the theory, leaders form different

kinds of relationships with various groups of subordinates. One
group, referred to as the in-group, is favoured by the leader.
Members of in-group receive considerably more attention from
the leader and have more access to the organizational resources.
By contrast, other subordinates fall into the out-group. These
individuals are disfavoured by the leader. As such, they receive
fewer valued resources from their leaders. Leaders distinguish
between the in-group and out-group members on the basis of the
perceived similarity with respect to personal characteristics, such
as age, gender, or personality.

iv) THE MANAGERIAL GRID:  Previously known as the Managerial

Grid, the Leadership Grid is based on two behavioural
dimensions: concern for production, which is plotted on the X-axis
on a scale from one to nine points; and concern for people, which
is plotted on a similar scale along the Y-axis. The model identified
five leadership styles by their relative positions on the grid. The
first number in the examples below reflects a leader's concern for
production; the second, a leader's concern for people.
 Impoverished (1,1)
 Produce or Perish (9, 1)
  Middle of the Road (5, 5)
 Country Club (1, 9)
 Team (9, 9)

C. CONTINGENCY THEORIES:
Contingency theories of leadership focus on particular variables related
to the environment that might determine which particular style of
leadership is best suited for the situation. According to this theory, no
leadership style is best in all situations. Some of the contingency
theories are discussed below:

i) FIEDLER THEORY: According to him, if an organization attempts to

achieve group effectiveness through leadership, then there is a
need to assess the leader according to an underlying trait, assess
the situation faced by the leader, and construct a proper match
between the two.

ii) PATH-GOAL THEORY: It indicates that a leader is in charge of

clarifying the subordinates about the actions and behavior; which
if followed, will lead to goal attainment. It extracts the essence of
the expectancy theory of motivation and the Ohio State
leadership research on initiating structure and consideration.

D. SITUATIONAL THEORIES:
The Situational Theory is similar to the Contingency Theory as it also
proposes that no one leadership style supersedes others. As its name
suggests, the theory implies that leadership depends on the situation at
hand.

i) VROOM-YETTON MODEL: The Vroom-Yetton decision model is a

decision-making process based on situational leadership.
According to this model, there are five decision-making styles
guides group-based decision-making according to the situation at
hand and the level of involvement of subordinates: Autocratic
Type 1 (AI), Autocratic Type 2 (AII), Consultative Type 1 (CI),
Consultative Type 2 (CII), Group-based Type 2 (GII).
 E. CONTEMPORARY THEORIES:
According to the contemporary leadership style, leaders can be more
effective when they have an ability to recognize the mysterious
environment and complexity of the work and are able to react in the
changing environment.

i. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP: The Transformational

Leadership theory, also known as Relationship theories, focuses
on the relationship between the leaders and followers. This theory
talks about the kind of leader who is inspirational and charismatic,
encouraging their followers to transform and become better at a
task.

UNIT-3
Q1. What do you mean by Group? Discuss the various stages of group
development?
Ans. A group can be defined as two or more interacting and interdependent
individuals who come together to achieve particular objectives. A group
behaviour can be stated as a course of action a group takes as a family. 
A team cannot be expected to perform well right from the time it is formed.
Forming a team is just like maintaining a relationship. It takes time, patience,
requires support, efforts and members often go through recognizable stages as
they change from being a collection of strangers to a united group with
common goals.
This process of learning to work together effectively is known as team
development. Research has shown that teams go through definitive stages
during development. Bruce Tuckman, an educational psychologist, identified a
five-stage development process that most teams follow to become high
performing. He called the stages: forming, storming, norming, performing, and
adjourning.
1. Orientation (Forming Stage):
The first stage of group development is the forming stage. This stage
presents a time where the group is just starting to come together and is
 described with anxiety and uncertainty. Members are discreet with their
behaviour, which is driven by their desire to be accepted by all members
of the group. Conflict, controversy, misunderstanding and personal
opinions are avoided even though members are starting to form
impressions of each other and gain an understanding of what the group
will do together. At this stage, group members are learning what to do,
how the group is going to operate, what is expected, and what is
acceptable.

2. Power Struggle (Storming Stage):

The storming stage is the most difficult and critical stage to pass
through. It is a period marked by conflict and competition as individual
personalities emerge. Team performance may actually decrease in this
stage because energy is put into unproductive activities. Members may
disagree on team goals, and subgroups and cliques may form around
strong personalities or areas of agreement. To get through this stage,
members must work to overcome obstacles, to accept individual
differences, and to work through conflicting ideas on team tasks and
goals. Teams can get bogged down in this stage. Failure to address
conflicts may result in long-term problems.

3. Cooperation and Integration (Norming Stage):

If teams get through the storming stage, conflict is resolved and some
degree of unity emerges. In the norming stage, consensus develops
around who the leader or leaders are, and individual member’s roles.
Interpersonal differences begin to be resolved, and a sense of cohesion
and unity emerges. Team performance increases during this stage as
members learn to cooperate and begin to focus on team goals.
However, the harmony is precarious, and if disagreements re-emerge
the team can slide back into storming.

4. Synergy (Performing Stage):

In the performing stage, consensus and cooperation have been well-
established and the team is mature, organized, and well-functioning.
There is a clear and stable structure, and members are committed to the
team’s mission. Problems and conflicts still emerge, but they are dealt
 with constructively. The team is focused on problem solving and meeting
team goals.
5. Closure (Adjourning Stage):
In the adjourning stage, most of the team’s goals have been
accomplished. The emphasis is on wrapping up final tasks and
documenting the effort and results. As the work load is diminished,
individual members may be reassigned to other teams, and the team
disbands. There may be regret as the team ends, so a ceremonial
acknowledgement of the work and success of the team can be helpful. If
the team is a standing committee with ongoing responsibility, members
may be replaced by new people and the team can go back to a forming
or storming stage and repeat the development process.

Q2. Define Stress. Discuss the different stress coping strategies.

Ans. Stress is an individual’s response to a disturbing factor in the
environment, and the consequence of such reaction. Stress obviously involves
interaction of the person and the environment.
Stress is an adaptive response to an external situation that results in physical,
psychological and/or behavioral deviations for organizational participants.
Stress reduction strategies may be categorized into:
A) Individual Strategies: First step in managing stress is to understand that
the individual is exposed to stressors. There are a number of ways by
which a person can either avoid stressful conditions, change them or
learn to cope with them. Stress can be managed by an individual, which
will enable him to regain control over his life.
Some of the stresses reducing strategies from individual’s point of view
are:

i. Knowledge about Stress: In the first stage, an individual should

become knowledgeable about stress. He should know about the
process and effects of stress. He must find out the major sources
of his stress. He must anticipate stressful periods and plan
accordingly in advance. He must be honest with himself and
decide what he can cope with what he cannot.
 ii. Physiological Fitness: Exercise in any form can help people in
coping with the stress. Non-competitive physical exercise such as
aerobics, walking, jogging, swimming, riding a bicycle, playing
softball or tennis has been recommended by physicians as a way
to deal with excessive stress levels. There is evidence to suggest
that individuals who exercise are much less likely to suffer from
certain types of stress related exercises.
iii. Time Management: Most of the people are very poor in managing
their time. They don’t know that what must be done and when it
would be desirable to do so. The result of poor time management
is feeling of work overload, skipped schedules and tension. A well-
organized person can often accomplish twice as much as the
person who is poorly organized. Therefore, an individual must
understand how to manage his time so that he can cope with
tensions created by job demands.
iv. Assertiveness: An individual should become assertive. He should
start saying no to people or managers who demand too much of
his time. Being assertive is an important factor in reducing stress.
v. Social Support Network: Every person should have people to turn
to, talk to and rely upon.’ Good friends become highly supportive
during times of stress and crisis. Social network includes friends,
family or work colleagues. Expanding your social support system
can be a means for tension reduction because friends are there
when needed and provide support to get the person through
stressful situations.
vi. Relaxation Techniques: Every individual must teach himself to
reduce tension through relaxation techniques such as yoga,
meditation, hypnosis and biofeedback. 15-20 minutes a day of
deep relaxation releases tension and provides a person with
pronounced sense of peacefulness. Deep relaxation conditions will
bring significant changes in heart rate, blood pressure and other
physiological factors.

B) Organizational Strategies: Individuals may design their own strategies to

reduce stress, but it is a must for the organizations to develop
programmes that will help the employees in reducing their stress. This
will lead to less employee turnover, absenteeism and as a result
productivity will improve.
Some of the measures which organizations can take are:

i. Selection and Placement: Individuals differ in their

response to stress situations. On the other hand, in the
organizations there are certain jobs which are more
stressful as compared to other jobs. While doing the
selection and placement of the employees, these factors
must be kept in mind. The individuals who are more prone
to stress should not be put on jobs which are stressful. The
individuals who are less prone to stress may adapt better to
high stress jobs and perform those jobs more effectively.
ii. Goal Setting: Based on extensive amount of research it has
been concluded that individuals perform better when they
have specific and challenging goals and they receive
feedback on how well they are progressing towards those
goals. Goal setting can reduce stress as well as provide
motivation. It will result in less employee frustration, role
ambiguity and stress.
iii. Improved Communication: Sometimes due to lack of
effective communication from the superiors, the employees
do not know what they have to do and how they have to do
it. This result in role ambiguity. Effective communication
with employees reduces the uncertainty by lessening role
ambiguity and role conflict.
iv. Redesigning Jobs: Organizations should redesign the jobs in
such a way as to give employees more responsibility, more
meaningful work, more autonomy and increased feedback.
This will help reduce the stress caused by monotony, work
overload or under load and role ambiguity. Job redesigning
enhances motivation, reduces the stress among the
employees and enhances “Quality of work life”.
v. Participative Decision Making: If the organizations give the
employees participation in those decisions that directly
affect them and their job performance, it can increase
employee control and reduce the role stress. The main
 reason of role stress is that employees feel uncertain about
their goals, expectations and how they will be evaluated.
These uncertainties can be reduced by the management by
giving the employees a right to participate in the decision
making.
vi. Personal Wellness Programmes: These personal wellness
programmes focus on the employees’ total physical and
mental condition. Organizations can provide facilities at
their premises for physical fitness such as gyms, swimming
pools, tennis courts etc. as well as psychological counselling.
They should hold seminars or workshops to make the
employees understand nature and sources of stress and the
possible ways to reduce it.