assignment organisational behavior final 2

8/6/2019 Assignment Organisational Behavior FINAL 2

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Botswana College of Distance & Open Learning

Diploma in Business Management

Organisational Behaviour

Assignment: 1

Mmoniemang Motsele:


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Question 1

a) Definition of Organizational behavior:- The study and application of knowledge about

human behavior related to other elements of an organization.

Stephen P Robins defines organizational behavior as a systematic study of the actions andattitudes that people exhibit within organizations

The term Organizational Behavior is ambiguous at best. In order to develop a concrete definitionof the term, a person must first understand its uses and applications on their lives. The studiesthat comprise Organizational Behavior find most effective uses within the corporate structure onseveral different levels. It affects the individual, the team, and the company as a whole. Thestudy of each of the behaviors of these groups as well as their separate but integrated sub-groups is critical in helping to produce a streamlined well functioning body which can act andreact cohesively to the demands of the corporate world.

b)Three distinct development in the history of management thought

Organizational behavior is an academic discipline concerned with describing, understanding,

predicting, and controlling human behavior in an organizational environment. Organizationalbehavior has evolved from early classical management theories into a complex school ofthoughtand it continues to change in response to the dynamic environment and proliferatingcorporate cultures in which today's businesses operate. "The task of getting organizations tofunction effectively is a difficult one," wrote David A. Nadler and Michael L. Tushman inHackman, Lawler, and Porter's Perspectives on Behaviors in Organizations.

The Behavioral Sciences

Organizational behavior scientists study four primary areas of behavioral science: individualbehavior, group behavior, organizational structure, and organizational processes. Theyinvestigate many facets of these areas like personality and perception, attitudes and job

satisfaction, group dynamics, politics and the role of leadership in the organization, job design,the impact of stress on work, decision-making processes, the communications chain, andcompany cultures and climates. They use a variety of techniques and approaches to evaluateeach of these elements and its impact on individuals, groups, and organizational efficiency andeffectiveness.

Specific contributions to the history of management thought

Frederick Winslow Taylor (18561915) was the first person who attempted to study humanbehavior at work using a systematic approach. Taylor studied human characteristics, socialenvironment, task, physical environment, capacity, speed, durability, cost and their interactionwith each other. His overall objective was to reduce and/or remove human variability. Taylorworked to achieve his goal of making work behaviors stable and predictable so that maximumoutput could be achieved. He relied strongly upon monetary incentive systems, believing thathumans are primarily motivated by money. He faced some strong criticism, including beingaccused of telling managers to treat workers as machines without minds, but his work was veryproductive and laid many foundation principles for modern management studies. Anenlightening book about the life of Pratik Bang and his studies is that by Kanigel (1997).


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Elton Mayo, an Australian national, headed the Hawthorne Studies at Harvard. In his classicwriting in 1931, Human Problems of an Industrial Civilization, he advised managers to deal withemotional needs of employees at work.

Mary Parker Follett was a pioneer management consultant in the industrial world. As a writer,she provided analyses on workers as having complex combinations of attitude, beliefs, andneeds. She told managers to motivate employees on their job performance, a "pull" rather than

a "push" strategy.

Douglas McGregorproposed two theories/assumptions, which are very nearly the opposite ofeach other, about human nature based on his experience as a management consultant. His firsttheory was "Theory X", which is pessimistic and negative; and according to McGregor it is howmanagers traditionally perceive their workers. Then, in order to help managers replace thattheory/assumption, he gave "Theory Y" which takes a more modern and positive approach. Hebelieved that managers could achieve more if they start perceiving their employees as self-energized, committed, responsible and creative beings. By means of his Theory Y, he in factchallenged the traditional theorists to adopt a developmental approach to their employees. Healso wrote a book, The Human Side of Enterprise, in 1960; this book has become a foundationfor the modern view of employees at work.

During the last 20 years organizational behavior study and practice has developed andexpanded through creating integrations with other domains:

y Anthropology became an interesting prism to understanding firms as communities, byintroducing concepts like Organizational culture, 'organizational rituals' and 'symbolicacts' enabling new ways to understand organizations as communities.

y Leadership Understanding: the crucial role of leadership at various level of anorganization in the process of change management.

y Ethics and their importance as pillars of any vision and one of the most important driving

forces in an organization.

ConclusionThese theories are used not only to measure job satisfaction in such tangible areas as pay,benefits, promotional opportunities, and working conditions, but also to gauge how individualand group behavior patterns influence corporate culture, both positively and negatively.

In conclusion there are many concepts and ideas that companies need to incorporate into theworkplace. Some of these concepts are organizational behavior, organizational culture,organizational effectiveness, organizational learning, communication, and diversity. If acompany can incorporate all these concepts, the company is bound for success.


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Question 2

a) Distinguish between the terms personality and perception

Personality - A relatively stable set of characteristics that influence an individuals behavior.

The concept of personality also embraces perception, motivation, aspiration, learning and

development. It is therefore necessary to recognize at the outset that human personality is

highly complex and that steps must be taken by organization to understand these

characteristics, interactions and complexities exhibited by their people if an effective relationship

is to be produced.

Perception- is the process by which people interpret the input from their senses to givemeaning and order to the world around them. The three components of perception are theperceiver, the target, and the situation. Accurate perceptions are necessary to make gooddecisions and to motivate workers to perform at a high level, to be fair and equitable, and to beethical.

b) Contrast two approaches to the study of personality

There are two main types of personality studies. These are Nomothetic approach andIdiographic approach:

Nomothetic Approach The approach of investigating large groups of people to try to findgeneral laws of behavior that apply to everyone. Quantitative experimental methods are best toidentify the universal behavior. The individual will be classified with others and measured as ascore upon a dimension or be a static supporting a general principal. This approach emphasizesthe similarities between individuals. It is the main approach within scientifically orientedpsychology.

Advantages of Nomothetic Approacha) Successfully used by other sciences as well as psychology

b) The finding of universal laws is useful for prediction & control of behaviour. e.g. selectingpersonnel, diagnosis & treatment of disorders, dealing with global problems such asaggression & prejudice.

Disadvantages of Nomothetic Approacha) Gives a more superficial understanding of any one person. E.g. we may both score the

same on a memory test but may have used different techniques to remember the items.

b) Generalisations may be too inaccurate for the individual - e.g. in diagnosis of a disorderbased on the medical models classification system may not accurately describe or help

the individual.

Idiographic approach-Are based on the assumption that human beings are unique and canonly be understood through the use of techniques that are designed to reflect that uniqueness. Itfocuses on detailed study of an individual or group or individuals as opposed to groups.

Advantages of Idiographic approach

a) Provides a more complete and global understanding of the individual.

b) It may be the most efficient approach in the area of study (Freud & Piaget claimed this).


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c) Ideographic methods may lead onto experimental research

Disadvantagesof Idiographic approacha) Ideographic methods tend to be more unreliable and unscientific because they tend to

be subjective, long term, flexible and un-standardized.

Conclusion- Both ideographic methods (to consider the uniqueness of the individuals

behaviour) and nomothetic methods (to consider the similarities between the individual andothers) are needed for a complete understanding of human behaviour.

c) Compare Two Distortions to the Process of Personality

Halo Effect: The halo effect has to do with human beings general tendency to let anoverall impression about something shape particular judgments. For example, if I thinkthat an individual is a high-performing manager, I will probably look at various thingsthey do and have a generally better impression of him/her. This happens because it isvery hard for us to separately evaluate many different things about a person or acompany. We tend to let these things flow together.

Too often, observers and executives make assumptions about business performancethat are not based in fact. For example, if a company is doing well financially, theassumption is that its leader is a brilliant and gifted individual, the corporate culture isamazing, and the people are the best. That, according to author Phil Rosenzweig, is thehalo effect.

Stereotyping: Judging a person on the basis of ones perception of a group to which heor she belongs. Robbins Stephen & Coultar Mary, Management, 5th Addition, pp.447. Itinvolves judgement, believes conceptions and assumptions made by people towardsothers. (There is an English say that says: birds of the same further flock together). Itconcerns of word of perceptions normally referred to characterize, symbolize andassumed to be correct towards individuals at work or outside working environment.

Stereotypes can be either positive ("black men are good at basketball") or negative("women are bad drivers"). But most stereotypes tend to make us feel superior in someway to the person or group being stereotyped. Stereotypes ignore the uniqueness ofindividuals by painting all members of a group with the same brush.


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QUESTION 3

Learning is a process where experience brings about permanent changes in behaviour orattitude...

a) Use examples to explain the behaviourist model of conditioning

Behavioral psychology, also known as behaviorism, is a theory of learning based upon the ideathat all behaviors are acquired through conditioning. Conditioning occurs through interactionwith the environment. According to behaviorism, behavior can be studied in a systematic andobservable manner with no consideration of internal mental states.

There are two major types of conditioning:

1. Classical conditioning is a technique used in behavioral training in which a naturallyoccurring stimulus is paired with a response. Next, a previously neutral stimulus is pairedwith the naturally occurring stimulus. Eventually, the previously neutral stimulus comesto evoke the response without the presence of the naturally occurring stimulus. The twoelements are then known as the conditioned stimulus and the conditioned response.

2. Operant conditioning Operant conditioning (sometimes referred to as instrumentalconditioning) is a method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments forbehavior. Through operant conditioning, an association is made between a behavior anda consequence for that behavior.

b) Develop one cognitive theory of the learning process and comment on how it mightassist the manager to change attitude

Cognitive theory is a learning theory of psychology that attempts to explain humanbehavior by understanding the thought processes. The assumption is that humans arelogical beings that make the choices that make the most sense to them. Information

processing is a commonly used description of the mental process, comparing thehuman mind to a computer.

Pure cognitive theory largely rejects behaviorism on the basis that behaviorismreduces complex human behavior to simple cause and effect. However, the trend in pastdecades has been towards merging the two into a comprehensive cognitive-behavioraltheory. This allows therapists to use techniques from both schools of thought to helpclients achieve their goals.

Social cognitive theory is a subset of cognitive theory. Primarily focused on the waysin which we learn to model the behavior of others, social cognitive theory can be seen inadvertising campaigns and peer pressure situations. It is also useful in the treatment of

psychological disorders including phobias.


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Question 4

Stages of Group Development

In management theory, there's a lot of talk about getting groups together to do a project, andhow they tend to work things out. Bruce Tuckman analyzed the process in the 1960s and cameup with a model of it. These are:- Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and

Adjournment.

1. Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially know one other and form as a group.The major task functions also concern orientation. Members attempt to become oriented to thetasks as well as to one another. Discussion centers around defining the scope of the task, howto approach it, and similar concerns. To grow from this stage to the next, each member mustresign the comfort of non-threatening topics and risk the possibility of conflict.

2. Storming: The next stage, which Tuckman calls Storming, is characterized by competitionand conflict in the personal-relations dimension an organization in the task-functions dimension.

As the group members attempt to organize for the task, conflict inevitably results in theirpersonal relations. Individuals have to bend and mold their feelings, ideas, attitudes, and beliefs

to suit the group organization. Because of "fear of exposure" or "fear of failure," there will be anincreased desire for structural clarification and commitment. In order to progress to the nextstage, group members must move from a "testing and proving" mentality to a problem-solvingmentality.

3. Norming: Eventually agreement is reached on how the group operates (norming).Leadership is shared, and group dissolves. When members begin to know and identify with oneanother, the level of trust in their personal relations contributes to the development of groupcohesion. It is during this stage of development (assuming the group gets this far) that peoplebegin to experience a sense of group belonging and a feeling of relief as a result of resolvinginterpersonal conflicts.

4. Performing: The group practices its craft and becomes effective in meeting its objectives. Inthis stage, people can work independently, in subgroups, or as a total unit with equal facility.

Their roles and authorities dynamically adjust to the changing needs of the group and

individuals. By now, the group should be most productive. Individual members have become

self-assuring, and the need for group approval is past. Members are both highly task oriented

and highly people oriented. There is unity: group identity is complete, group morale is high, and

group loyalty is intense. The overall goal is productivity through problem solving and work.

5. Adjourning: Tuckmans final stage, Adjourning involves the termination of task behaviorsand disengagement from relationships. A planned conclusion usually includes recognition forparticipation and achievement and an opportunity for members to say personal goodbyes.

Concluding a group can create some worry - in effect, a minor crisis. The termination of thegroup is a regressive movement from giving up control to giving up inclusion in the group. Themost effective interventions in this stage are those that facilitate task termination and thedisengagement process


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b) The nine team types which Dr R. M. Belbin and his colleagues originally identified

were:

y Co-ordinator

y Plant

y Shaper

y Monitor Evaluator

y Implementery Resource Investigator

y Team Worker

y Completer Finisher

y Specialist (added later).

Co-ordinator: The Co-ordinator is the one who presides over the team and coordinates its

efforts to meet external goals and targets. Co-ordinators are distinguished by their

preoccupation with objectives and an ability to include all team members in discussions.

Co-ordinators are intelligent but not in any sense brilliant - and not outstanding creative thinkers:

it is rare for any of the creative ideas to originate with them

Plant: The Plant is the teams source of original ideas, suggestions and proposals, which is the

Plant, is the ideas person. Plants are usually the most imaginative as well as the most intelligent

member of the team, and the most likely to start searching for a completely new approach to a

problem if the team starts getting bogged down, or to bring a new insight to a line of action

already agreed.

Shaper: The Shaper is full of nervous energy. He or she is outgoing and emotional, impulsive

and impatient, sometimes edgy and easily frustrated. If they are not the leader of the team they

may constantly be vying with the appointed leader for that role. They are quick to challenge and

quick to respond to a challenge.

Monitor- Evaluator : Monitor-Evaluators are likely to be serious and not very exciting. Their

contribution lies in measured and dispassionate analysis rather than creative ideas, and while

they are unlikely to come up with an original proposal, they are the most likely to stop the team

from committing itself to a misguided project. Teams should always listen to a

Monitor-Evaluator, for they are seldom wrong.

Implementer: - Originally designated with the title of Company Worker, the Implementer is the

practical organizer. He or she is the one who turns decisions and strategies into defined and

manageable tasks that people can actually get on with. Implementers are concerned with what

is feasible, and their chief contribution is to convert the team's plans into an implementable

form. They sort out objectives, and pursue them logically.

Resource investigator: Is the member of the team who goes outside the group and brings

information, ideas and developments back to it - hence their interest in communications

technology. They make friends easily and have masses of outside contacts. They are rarely in

their office or workplace, and when they are, they are probably on the telephone, using email or

surfing the Internet. They are the sales people, the diplomats and the liaison officers, always

exploring new possibilities in the wider world outside


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Completer-Finisher: The Completer-Finisher worries about what might go wrong. They are

never at ease until they have personally checked every detail and made sure that everything

has been done and nothing has been overlooked. It is not that they are overtly or irritatingly

fussy - their obsession is an expression of anxiety. They make excellent proof readers as they

are good at checking details and ensuring that all the spellings and good are correct.

Team worker: Just another staff member who has been assigned to care about other

individuals. He should be skilled and be a caretaker, has feeling for people to can solveproblems within the organization and social.

Specialist: Highly skilled in his areas of qualification and able to resolve conflicts and problems

arising within the organization. He or she is single minded, knowledgeable in his or her own

field. The Specialist makes a valuable input at these times, as while his or her focus is narrow, it

is very detailed and knowledgeable.


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References:Cognitive principles of multimedia learning: Moreno, R., & Mayer, R. (1999).

Mastering Organisational Behaviour Richard Pettinger

The role of cognition in classical and operant conditioning. 369 - 392. Kirsch, I., Lynn, S.J.,Vigorito, M. & Miller, R.R. (2004).

Trends in Organizational Behaviour Judith C. Kingstone, (1998)

Management and Organizational Behaviour 5th Edition. Pitmans Publishing Mullins, L. J.

"Organizational Behavior".Hunt, James; Osborn, Richard; Schermerhorn, John. (2005).Exploring Human Resources Management: Porter, C. Bingham, C. and Simmonds, D. (2008)

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