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LESSON NO. 1ORGANISATION BEHAVIOUR INTRODUCTION

Org. Behaviour (in short called as OB) is concerned with the study of the behaviour andinteraction of people in restricted or organised settings. It involves understanding people and

predicting their behaviour, and knowledge of the means by which their behaviour is influenced

and shaped.

Organisations are bodies or entities created for a statedpurpos e They may consist of one or more

people. In the case of a sole trader or single operator, he needs to build relationships with

suppliers, contractors, customers, clients, and the community. For those that consist of more than

one person, internal as well as external relationships have to be created and maintained.

Organisations therefore consist of individuals, groups, and relationships. Objectives, structures,

systems and processes are then created to give direction and order to activities and interactions.

OB is thus of great concern to anyone who organises, creates, orders, directs, manages, or

supervises the activities of others. It is also of concern to those who build relationships between

individuals, groups of people, different parts of organisation between different organisation, for

all these activities are founded on human interactions.

OB is therefore concerned with:-

1. The purposes for which organisations are created

2. The behaviour of individuals, and an understanding of the pressures and influences that cause

them to act and react in particular ways.

3. The qualities that individuals bring to particular situations.

4. The creation of groups i.e., collections of people brought together for given purposes.5. The background and context within which activities take place.

6. The relationships and interactions with the wider environment with other organisations and

groups.

7. The management and ordering of the whole and its parts into productive and effective work

relationships.

GOALS OF O.B.There are 4 primary goals of OB, which are as under:-1. Describe2. Understand

3. Predict, AND Behaviour.

4. ControlELEMENTS OF O.B.

There are 4 key elements of ob, which are as under: -

1. The People



2. The structure

3. The Environment

4. The Technology

MEANING OF OB

1. It is the study and application of knowledge about how people act within organisations. IT ISA HUMANTOOL FOR HUMAN BENEFIT AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT.2. It is directly concerned with the understanding, predicting, and controlling of human behaviour.3. It represents the behavioural approach to management - not the whole of management.4. It is not to be equated with the industrial psychology. For E.g., organisational structure andmanagement processes, say, decision making play a direct role in OB, but they are indirectly discussed inindustrial

psychology.

5. It is directly concerned with the conceptual and human side of management, but not with the

technical side.

DETAILED STUDY OF THE 4 KEY ELEMENTS OF OB

1. PEOPLE

An Organisation is a well-knit social system. People work in organisations. They constitute

individuals and groups. Even in groups, there could be formal as well as informal classifications.

People join organisations to achieve their objectives. They are the LIVING, THINKING, and

FEELING beings. Although people have a few things in common, each person is individualised,

just as their palmprints. Heredity, endowment, social institutions contribute their share toward

make up of individuals. Every manager's approach to employee should be INDIVIDUAL, and

NOT STATISTICAL, therefore.

We must employ a whole person, and not his "hands" or "brain" only. Home life cannot be

separated from worklife. PEOPLE FUNCTION AS TOTAL HUMAN BEINGS. The objective

of OB is to develop a BETTER EMPLOYEE, A BETTER CITIZEN, AND A BETTER MAN.

The value of person asserts that people are to be treated differently from other factors. Of

production. People should be treated with respect and dignity. The concept of human dignity

rejects the old idea of employees as so many "hands" or economic tools. Organisations cannot

ignore human values.

2. ORGANISATION STRUCTURE



We have learnt that organisations are basically social systems, and come into being on the basis

of mutual interests. From sociology, we learn that all activities are governed by social and

psychological laws. Just as people have psychological needs, they have also social roles and

status. In organisations we find two types of social systems, namely, the formal, and the

informal, both of which coexist. It means that an organization's environment is dynamic, and not

static. All parts are interdependent and each part is influenced by other parts. People needorganisations, and organisations need people, is to state the obvious. If there is no sense of

mutuality, there is no reason why at all organisations cannot attain their objectives without the

people element therein, and so is true in reverse.

3. TECHNOLOGY

Technology helps people work with machines, tools, and the like. Thus, they are able to produce

more of goods and services, and offer them to the society. It helps people to do better work, but

technology element has both cost and benefit implications.

4. ENVIRONMENTAll organisations operate within an external environment. An organisation is a larger part of asocial system. Theexternal environment influences the Attitudes of people, affect work conditions, and provideresourcesOB IS A BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCE

1. Bchavoiural science is considered to be a new science of an ancient subject.

2. Beh, Sc. Is the study of human behaviour.

3. The primary difference between beh.sc, and other social sciences lies in its methodology,

4. A beh.sc. depends upon rigorous scientific methodology in the collection of empirical data onhuman

behaviour. The other social sciences use indirect documentary practice in building their body of knowledge,5. Why man behaves the way he does is a very complex process. The problem is so great thatmany people arguethat there can be no precise science of behaviour. Human beings cannot be effectively controlled

CONTRIBUTING DISCIPLINES TO O.B.

OB is applied beh.sc. and is built upon contributions from a number of behavioural disciplines.They are- Psychology, Sociology, Social psychology. Anthropology, and Political science.

Contributions of psychology operate at MICRO levels, while other contributions operate at the

MACRO level.

1. PSYCHOLOGY



Individual or general psychology has been defined in many ways- It is called the science of soul,

the science of mind, the science of behaviour. All said and done, J.B.WATSON has defined

psychology as the positive science of human behaviour. Behaviour is not mechanical. There is a

mind behind it and the behaviour is the expression of the working of the mind. WOODWORTH

has put it aptly - Psychology lost its soul first. Then it lost its mind, then it lost its consciousness,

and now lives with behaviour. Psychology seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes the behaviour of men. Psychology attempts to study individual behaviour. Psychologists concern

themselves with perception, learning, personality, training, job satisfaction, leadership and

motivation.

2. SOCIOLOGYSociologists have contributed to the areas of group dynamics, organisation theory and structure, bureaucracy, power and conflict. Sociology focuses attention on people in relation to fellow human beings.

3. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

This deals with interpersonal behaviour. In a broad sense, we can say that social behaviour

involves one of the three basic reactions. When an individual meets another individual, there is

social interaction. Bach individual affects the other individual with whom he comes into contact

and is in turn affected by them. Secondly, the individual may be interacting with a group- Then

also, behaviour gets affected. Finally, interaction of one group with the other groups. Social

psychology attempts to study the characteristics of all these various social behaviour. One major

area arresting the attention of social psychologists is CHANGE MANAGEMENT, and

particularly how to implement change forcefully without pain.

4. ANTHROPOLOGY

Anthropology is the science of man. Anthropologists study society, particularly the primitive

ones to learn about human beings and their activities. How we behave is a function of culture-

Our individual values system will affect our attitudes and behaviour on the jib . Thus ,

anthropology teaches how our culture affects organizational behaviour .

REMEMBER

O.B. IS NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH MANAGEMENT. OB IS CONCERNED WITH HOW PEOPLE INDIVIDUALLY AND IN-

GROUPS ACT IN ORGANISATIONS. MANAGEMENT IS CONCERNED WITH THE OPTIMUM ATTAINMENT OF

ORGANISATIONAL GOALS> SINCE THOSE GOALS CANNOT BE ATTAINED WITHOUT HUMAN INPUT, O.B.IS AN IMPORTANT

SEGMENT OF MANAGEMENT.

THE CHALLENGES FACING MANAGEMENT

There are several challenges and critical issues facing managements, for which OB offers

solutions or atleast some meaningful insights towards solution. For e.g., more and more women



are joining the workforce and loyalties of employees to the organisations have become a thing of

the past, business competition is increasing across the globe. These are the critical issues being

faced by the managers of the present era. Therefore there is a greater need to understand OB

better and more than before. Some issues are discussed in detail:-

1. WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

In today's organisations members of the workforce differ in age, gender, race, ethnicity, and

education. When workers join organisations, they come with their differing expectations,

lifestyles and cultural values, and lifestyle preferences. Therefore the challenge for organisations

is to make them, selves accommodating to diverse groups of people at work place by addressing

their different lifestyles, family needs, cultural needs, and work styles. If diversity is managed

properly it can increase creativity and innovation. On the contrary, diversity, if not managed

properly, can result in higher turnover, increased interpersonal conflict and ineffective

communications.

CHANGING DEMOGRAPHIES OF WORKFORCE

Increasing number of womenfolk joining the workforce in industries, more and more of young

workers, increased life expectancy ( resulting in some cases the older workforce still continuing

serving industries), increasing tendency of husband and wife working in same organisations, and

in some cases in different organisations are all changing the demographics of workforce. Such

workforce requires to be handled with circumspection.

CHANGING EMPLOYEE EXPECTATION

Besides the changes in demographics of the workforce, employee expectations and aspirationshave changed from traditional allurement such as job security, good and attractive remuneration,

housing facility, empowerment. Quality of work life etc. Employees expect quality with

management. They will emphasis managing and leading by examples.

EXPANDING GLOBALISATION

Business has crossed the boundaries, and in fact, today it is popularly known as multi national

business. This has made managing men more complex. Globlisation of business process atleast

two challenges, namely, fist, Managers are frequently transferred to other countries different

from their own home country, where they come across several cultural differences among the

workforce who have to managed to care and caution., and Second, even in their own country,

managers have to work with superiors, subordinates, and peers, and who were born and brought

up in a different culture.

MOVING TOWARDS TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENTThe Challenge before Managers here is, to have to Human Resources Deliver Quality Productsand services to the customers and clients



MODELS OF O.B: -

Models are frameworks or possible explanations why do people behave as they do at work.

There are so many models as organisations are very many. Varying results across the

organisations are substantially caused by differences in the models of O.B. Generally, O.B.

Models can be divided into 4 categories, namely, 1) The autocratic model, 2) The custodial, 3)The supportive and 4) The collegial. The following Table shows the differences among the

Models: -

CustodialSupportiveCollegialBasis of ModelPower Economic Resources LeadershipPartnership

ManagerialOrientationAuthorityMoneySupportTeam Work EmployeeOrientationObedienceSecurity and Benefits Job PerformanceResponsible Behaviour

Employee

Psychological

Result

Dependence onBoxDependence onOrganisationParticipationSelf discipline

Employee needsmetSubsistenceSecurityStatus and recognition Self ActualisationPerformanceResultMinimum



Passive CooperationAwakened drivesModerate Enthusiasm

N.B For managing people, every organisation follows an organisational Behaviour system or

framework, commonly called "model of OB". Four models of OB are the automatic, custodial,suppority, and collegial. Under autocratic model, managers use their power and authority, where

as employee become dependent on organisations in case of custodial model. Suppority model

supports employee and collegial model inculcates teamwork feeling among employees in the

organisation.

EVOLUTION OF O.B.Although the interest in the welfare of workers is age old, the origin and development of O.B. istraced back tothe beginning of the 19th Century.

The industrial revolution benefited workers in more than one way. It increased wages on the onehand, and decreased the working hours, on the other. At the same time, two scientists ±

ROBERT OWEN and ANDREW URE, pleaded for facilities to be given to the workers.

F.W.TAYLOR, inaugurated and revived interest in human resources at work. He advocated for

increase in production by rationalising it.

The significant events like the labour movement, and the great contributions made by the

Hawthorne Studies and Experiments gave a genesis to human relations movement The continued

developments in human relation's approach by 1950s gave birth to O.B.

LESSON NO. 2FOUNDATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR INTRODUCTION

All organisations are composed of individuals. No Organisation exists without individuals. The

organisational performance is largely affected by the way individuals behave at work. Thatindividuals with different characteristics behave differently in the similar and different situations

underlines the need for managers to understand individuals \human behavior at work., so as to

extract the best and maximum contribution from them.

THE INDIVIDUAL AND INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES'



Individuals differ from each other owing to their varying characteristics that form an individual's

individuality. This is the reason why each individual is considered an island in himself. All

individuals are different. This fact is supported by science. Each one is different from all others

just as each of their fingerprints is different. As regards individual differences at work, the

important ones are outlined below:-

1. Depending on different psychological make-ups, people differ in attaching importance torewards vis - a - viskinds of jobs. For e.g., while some people prefer to assume challenging jobs for expressing their abilities;others may prefer jobs offering job security.2. People also differ in the type of compensation plan they want Some may prefer to havecompensation under time wage system, while others may like piece wage system as their compensation plan.3. People differ in the style of leadership they want to work under. While some may like to work under

autocratic leadership style, others may prefer to work under democratic leadership or evenlaissez-faireleadership.4. People also differ in their stamina to bear with job stress. While some prefer to flight, a fewmay like to work under extreme stress.5. People may also differ in their expression to their grievances. Some may be extroverts, whileothers may turnout to be introverts.6. Last, but not the least, people differ in personal characteristics like sex, age, race, education.Perception, and

personality.7. The individual differences cause differences in individual behavior HUMAN BEHAVIOUR AND ITS CAUSATION

First, let us understand what the term "behaviour" means. It can be understood as a response to

certain stimuli, which is observable directly or indirectly. Behaviour is observed directly by

studying the responses of people at their work environment. Indirect observation refers to how

people describe decision making process and attitudes verbally.

The human behaviour is caused by certain reasons. Behaviour is the result of interaction between

individual characteristics and the characteristics of the environment in which the behaviour

occurs. In other words, behaviour is a function of both the person and the environment

As stated earlier, each person with a unique combination of characteristics is different from all

others. Some of these characteristics are inherited from birth, and quite a few things are learnt

over a period of time. Personal characteristics remain inside the person whereas environmental

ones outside the person these personal and environmental characteristics serve as the foundations

of individual human behaviour.



Now, let us understand how me characteristics of the person and the environment affect behaviour at work PERSONAL BIOGRAPHICAL FACTORS

These include sex age, education, abilities, both mental and physical, and psychological factors

Environmental factors include economic factors, political factors, cultural values, andorganisational factors like physical facilities, organisational structure and design, leadership

styles and reward system,

CAUSATION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

The best way to understand human behaviour is to explain it through the system concept, A

system consists of four (4) definite elements, namely, the input, the thruput, the output, and the

feedback, Whatever enters in the system from the environment in the form of information serves

as raw materials or input. The thruput is the evaluation or transformation of input received.

Finally, employee's overt behaviour based on the thruput is the output. Feedback serves the

system with alternatives for changes in the sequence or time period of the systems operations.

Even a change in one small factor can bring about relatively large changes in behaviour.

MODELS OF MAN

A study of human behaviour is both rewarding and necessary to managers and managements all

over the world. It is doubtful whether the management can perform its functions successfully

without having understanding why people behave as they do. The fact remains that individual

differences among people cause differences in their behaviour. Based on individual differences

among people, individuals are classified into certain models or types. The following are the

important models of man observed in the organisations: -

1. Rational Economic Man

2. Self-Actualising Man

3. Complex Man

4. Social Man

5. Organisation Man.

RATIONAL ECONOMIC MAN

This is the oldest model of man. The basic doctrine of this model is that man strives for earning

more money in a rational manner. Thus- this model assumes that man can be motivated to produce more by providing more economic incentives as is done in case of piece rate system of

reward. But, it is important to mention that man works following the marginal utility theory.

Similarly, the organisation also continues to give employees incentives till it is receiving

matching contribution from them. Beyond that, organisation will not do so, because it will incur

losses.



SELF ACTUALISING MAN

This model is based on the assumption that man is self-motivated and controlled. These

assumptions are mostly based on D.McGREGOR's Theory economic incentives have their

limitations in inducing man to work more. Man works more to satisfy his needs in a hierarchical

order as per ABRAHAM MASLOW's Theory. So to say. man is induced 10 make efforts toreach where he can. Then, the sense of achievement gives him satisfaction.

COMPLEX MAN

The models discussed so far are based on relatively simplistic assumptions of man and his

behaviour. These assumptions say that man behaves according to certain pattern. But, it does not

hold true in reality for e.g., MASLOW¶s Need Hierarchy Theory cannot be uniform or all

individuals, but there can be overlapping in needs. As stated earlier. Behaviour of individuals is

caused and individual differences make it unpredictable. Given the

two persons having the same needs, still they may behave differently because the variable that

determine human behaviour are themselves unpredictable. Thus, human being is quite complex

and so is his behaviour. Therefore, managers need to take clues for their managerial actions

realising that no single action can be utilized successfully in all situations, but depending upon

complexities of variables affecting human behaviour.

SOCIAL MAN

This concept is based on the assumption that man being a part of society is influenced andmotivated by social variables, according to this model, man is induced more by his desire to

maintain his social relationships and tips than economic motives. Added to this man's more

responsiveness to his �group pressure and sanction- In fact, the human relation's approach to

management beginning from the famous HAWTHORNE STUDIES is also based on the concept

of social man. Therefore, while dealing with individuals in organisations, managers need to be

concerned mainly with people's feelings about their Belongingness to their groups and society.

ORGANBATION MAN

This concept is attributed to WHYTE. In fact, the organisation man is a extension of social man.

Organisation man assumes that man attaches high importance to the loyalty to his organisationand cordial relationship with his coworkers. Thus, this concept sacrifices individuality for the

sake of organisation. The reason being organisation itself takes care of individual interest. Its

implication for management is that management should design its various functions suitable to

satisfy the organisational needs.



LESSON NO. 3PERCEPTION NOTABLE POINTS1. Perception is a cognitive process of seeing, receiving, selecting, organising, interpreting andgiving meaningto the environment around us.2.Sensat i on differs from perception.

3. Sensation and perception are not one and the same. In a simple language, sensation may be

described as the response of a physical sensory organ to a stimulus. Our physical senses i.e.,vision, hearing touch, smell, and taste are continuously bombarded by numerous stimuli that are

both inside and outside of our body. The reactions of our eye to colour ear to sound nose to

odour, and so on are examples of our every day sensation. Sensation activates the functioning of

the physical sensory organ itself. Therefore, one can say that sensation precedes perception, m

this way, sensation serves as a raw input to be processed so as to make sense out of them to

perceive the environment or stimuli around us.

4. Perception is much more than sensation. Perception depends upon the sensory raw data, yet itinvolves thecognitive process that includes filtering, modifying or even changing these sensation raw data tomake senseout of them. In other words, the perceptual process adds to or and subtracts from the sensoryworld,THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESSIt consists of the following stages:-1. RECEIVING STIMULI

The perception process begins with the reception of stimuli, which will be received from

various sources. Through the sensory organs, we see things, hear sound, nose smells, tongue

tastes, and touch things. In this way, the reception of stimuli is a physiological aspect of the

perception process. Stimuli may be external to us such as sound waves or inside of us such asenergy generation by muscles.

2. SELECTION OF STIMULI

People arc bombarded by a number of stimuli everyday. They cannot absorb or assimilate what

they observe or receive them from the environment all at a time. Hence, they select some stimuli

for further processing to attach meaning to them while the rest are screened. Selection of stimuli



is not made at random, but depending on the two types of factors, namely, external factors, and

the internal factors. Normally, people selectively perceive objects or things, which interest them

most in a particular situation and avoid those for which they are ineffective. This is also called as

the SELECTIVE PERCEPTION.

3. ORGANISATION OF STIMULI

Having selected the stimuli or data, these need to be organised in some form so as to assign

some meaning to them. Thus, organising the bits of information in to a meaningful whole is

called "ORGANISATION". There are three ways by which the selected data i.e., inputs are

organised. They are 1) Grouping, 2)Closure, and 3) Simplification. Grouping is based on

similarity principal. For e.g.. All the workers having similarity in certain aspects may be

perceived to have similar opinion about their supervisor or boss. The tendency to form a

complete meaning from an incomplete one is known as closure.As regards simplification, when

people find themselves overloaded with information they try to simplify it to make it more

meaningful and

4. INTERPRETATION

The data collected and organised remain meaningless for the perceiver till these are assigned

meanings. Assigning meanings to data is called interpretation. Thus, interpretation of data forms

one of the most important elements in the entire perceptual process. Strictly speaking, data

collected and organised do not make any sense without interpretation. Several factors influence

interpretation. The most important ones are halo effect, attribution, stereotyping, personality,

situation, person perceived etc.

FACTORS AFFECTING PERCEPTION

Factors that influence perception relate to the perceiver, perceived, and situation. All these

factors are of two kinds -1) Internal or endogenous factors, and 2) External or Exogenous factors.

These are discussed in some detail below.

1. INTERNAL FACTORSThese factors reside in the person concerned. They include a person's needs, desires, personality,and experience.2. EXTERNAL FACTORSThese factors relate to what is being perceived and the situation. These are size, intensity,frequency, and statusetc.,IMPROVING PERCEPTIONPerception can be improved b y making various attempts. Following are the important ones thatcan helpimprove one's perception.



1. PERCEIVING ONESELF ACCURATELY

That is to say, one should improve to know more about oneself. Frequent interactions with peers,

colleagues, free, frank and open communication with others and mutual trust are some

commonly adopted practices for perceiving more accurately.

2. IMPROVING ONE'S SELF CONCEPTWhen people successfully accomplish what they want, it develops a sense of self-esteem. It alsoindicates thatcorrect perception about on self helps perceive others also more accurately.3. HAVING POSITIVE ATTITUDEPositive attitude makes one's perception positive or more accurate. Hence, the managers need toovercometheir personal bias, get rid of any negative feelings about others.4. BE EMPATHET1C

Empathy means to be able to see a situation as it is perceived by other people. In a way, it is like putting your feet in another's shoes. Looking at a problem from other's point of view enables the

person to perceive the other side of the problem.

5. AVOIDINGPERCEPTUAL DISTORTIONSome factors like the halo effect, stereotyping, attribution etc distort a person's perception aboutthings or problems. Therefore, sincere and continuous efforts should be made to guard oneself againstsuch biases.

6. COMMUNICATING OPENLY

Experience suggests that sometimes perception gets distorted due to communication gap and

inadequate communication. In such case, effective communication needs to be developed to

ensure that the true and right message reaches the right place at the right time. This will enable to

know the problem in a better perspective, which in turn will improve a person's perception about

the problem.

PERCEPTION AND ITS APPLICATION IN ORGANISATIONSThe perception, in many cases, has important effect on organisations. A few of these are obvious,

and the sameis discussed below: -1. EMPLOYMENT INTERVIEW

Different interviewers try to see different things in the same candidate differently, and thus

arrive at different perceptions. Who one thinks is a good candidate, the candidate can be seen

perceived by another interviewer as no good for the job. Interviewers form early Impressions



about the candidate, which ultimately weighs more in the selection. Therefore, interviewers must

be given adequate training in the skills of interviewing.

2. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL

Assessment of an employee's performance very much depends on the perception of the evaluator about the employee, m practice, superior officers and executives closely tie an employee's future

to his performance and its appraisal. Promotions pay rises, and continuation of job is the most

obvious and common outcome of the employee's performance. Performance Appraisal is both

objective and subjective. It becomes objective when performance can be sufficiently quantified.

For e.g., a salesman's performance can be assessed based S on how many rupees of sales he

generated in his territory during a given period of time. However, many employees jobs are

evaluated subjectively. Therefore, these become judgmental. Judgement will become susceptible

to distortion. It might affect the performance appraisal process.

3. PERFORMANCE EXPECTATION

New employees during their selection process acquire a set of expectations booth about the

organisation and about the job. In case there is a big gap between the expectations and realities,

there will be problems of increased alienation of employee, absenteeism, and even turnover.

4. EMPLOYEE EFFORT

Sin many organisations, the level of an employee's performance is given high importance.

Hence, an employee's future in an organisation depends upon his effort made for achieving the

organisational goals. However, assessment of an individual's performance is subjective

judgement and thus, susceptible to perceptual distortions and bias also.

5. EMPLOYEE LOYALTY

While assessing employees the managers also make another important decision whether the

employee are loyal to the organization. Like effort, assessment of loyalty is also a subjective

judgement susceptible to perceptual distortions and bias. As an example an employee looking for

greener pastures outside the organisation may be labeled as disloyal to the organisation. As a

resultant behaviour, the organisation may cut his future advancement opportunities.

DISTORTION IN PERCEPTION(Students are required to go through the notes in the APPENDIX)APPENDIXPerception is the process that individual use to require and make sense out of information fromthe



environment. The process is complex and involves three main stages. The first stage is selecting

the filtering of stimuli that encounter so that only certain information receives our attention. For

example, suppose that a manager taking over a new unit has heard a rumor that a particular

individual in the unit has a short temper. If the manager is not careful, this piece of information

may cause the manager to pay particular attention to situations in which the person is impatient

or angry.

The second stage of title perceptual process is organizing, the patterning of information from theselection stage.

Slowly pronounce each of the following (bur words:2)

M-A-C-T-A-V-I-S-H

M-A-C-D-O-N-A-L-D

M-A-C-B-E-T-H

M-A-C-H-I-N-E-R-Y

Like many people, you may have pronounced the last word as "MacHinery." This happens

because the previous pattern leads us to expect another word with the same type of

pronunciation. This exercise illustrates an interesting characteristic of perception: the tendency to

organize information into the patterns that we expect to perceive. In the example of the

individual rumored to have a short temper, the manager may begin to organize the selectively

perceived behavior into a pattern of incidents in which the individual was angry.

The third stage is interpreting, attaching meaning to the information that we have selected and

organized. In our example, the manager may, over time, begin to interpret (perhaps unfairly) the

organized information as indicating that the person does, indeed, have a short temper.

The perceptions of individuals are affected by a variety of factors such as experiences, needs,

personality, culture, and education. As a result, it is very likely that individuals will differ in their

perceptions of the very same situations and messages. Several common tendencies to distort

perceptions are particularly applicable to managerial communication and interactions. These

tendencies are stereotyping, the halo effect, projection, and perceptual defense. Awareness of these perceptual tendencies can help managers avoid the misunderstandings that such distortions

often create.

STEREOTYPING Stereotyping is the tendency to attribute characteristics to an individual on the basis of anassessment of the group to which the individual belongs. When a manager engages instereotyping, two steps occur.



First, the manager categorizes the individual as belonging to a group whose members are

perceived as sharing certain common characteristics. Second, the manager uses those perceived

common characteristics to draw conclusions about the characteristics of the individual, rather

than acquiring information about the person's characteristics more directly.

Stereotyping leads to problems when the generalizations do not apply or do not apply equally toall members of the group or when people try to generalize about less specifically related

characteristics. In such situations, managers may communicate inappropriate expectations. For

example, at American Medical International, Inc., a publicly owned hospital company based in

Beverly Hills, California, the precedent and chief operating officer, Gene Burleson ran into

communication difficulties because of Stereotyping. Burleson was addressing a meeting of

several hundred employees when one asked why the company did not have any women directors

or top executive. Observes reported that Burleson¶s response implied that women cannot deal

with the stress of the executive suite. His reply offended many members of the audience and

caused the incident to be reported in The Wall Street journal. Burleson later "admitted he gave a

lame and a stupid answer" to the question

HALO EFFECTThe halo effect is the tendency to use a general impression based on one or afew

characteristics of an individual to judge other characteristics of that same individual. For

example, a manager may use a general impression based on one thing a worker does, such as

compiling a well-done or poorly prepared report, 10 judge the worker's ability in other areas of

work, such as handling customers. To avoid the halo effect, interviewers and managers need to

make special efforts to collect enough data to make reasonable judgments in all the specific areas

that they are trying to evaluate.

PROJECTION Projection is the tendency of an individual to assume that others share his or her thoughts,

feelings, and characteristics. Unfortunately, projection can encourage managers to engage in one-

way communication because they assume that they know how their employees feet on various

issues. Engaging in two-way communication to learn how other individuals really do feel about

various issues can help managers avoid the ill effects of projection.

PERCEPTUAL DEFENSE Perceptual defense is the tendency to block out or distort informationthat one

finds threatening or that challenges one's beliefs. As a result, managers or workers may not be

very receptive to certain types of information. This may lead to the "shoot the bearer of bad

news' syndrome, in which a person tends to "behead" the bearer of bad news even though the

bearer was not the cause of the problem. Thus some managers get angry at employees who

provide information about serious problems thai cannot be ignored, even though the manager

needs to know about them.



Attribution Processes

One aid to understanding how perceptions ultimately influence managerial communication and

interpersonal processes is attribution theory. Attribution theory attempts to explain how

individuals make judgments or attributions about the causes of another's or their own

behavior.25 Such judgments often form the basis for subsequent actions. According to thetheory, we make causal judgments that are either dispositional (attributed to internal causes, such

as personality traits or a person's own efforts) or situational (attributed to external causes, such as

equipment or luck). For example, if Jane does not complete a work assignment on time, should

we attribute it to an internal factor like lack of effort or ability, or should we decide some work

context or other external issue is to blame? To make such judgments we consider consensus (the

degree to which the behavior is similar to the way most people act in a given situation),

consistency (the degree to which an individual behaves the same way' in this or a similar

situation at other times), and distinctiveness (the degree to which an individual behaves

differently in other situations). Thus if other staff member completed the same assignment on

time, Jane has had trouble completing the same assignment on time in the past, and she hasmissed deadlines on several other types of assignments, we would make a probably make a

dispositional judgement why the assignment was late. On the other hand, if others also were late

in completing the assignment, Jane normally complete such

assignments by the deadlines, we are likely to attribute the difficulty to situational factors. Theattributions wemake are likely to influence how we handle resolving the late assignment.

In making causal judgments, managers need to be particularly aware of lie fundamental

attribution error, the tendency to underestimate the importance of situational influences and to

overestimate the importance of dispositional influences in explaining behavior. We are particularly likely to make this error when we are attempting to explain the behavior of others.

Moreover, when here are successes and failures involved, we are likely to succumb to the self

serving bias. The self-serving bias is the tendency to perceive oneself as responsible for

successes and others as responsible for failures. b This tendency sets lie stage for serious

communication problems between managers and their subordinates. For instance, a manager may

attribute subordinates' successes to her or his own effective leadership but conclude that failures

are due to the subordinates' shortcomings. Subordinates, on the other hand, tend to see successes

as resulting from their own hard work and ability and to view failures as stemming from bad luck

or factors in the work environment, including areas controlled by their supervisor.

LESSON NO. 4PERSONALITYQ. 7.1. Define the term personality. Discuss the various determinants of Individual personality.



OR

"Personality is an organized whole without which an individual would have no meaning."

comment.

OR

"Personality essentially deals with the variations in thought and behaviour that differentiate one

person from

another." Elucidate this statement.OR "People are similar yet they are different." comment.Personality: The term personality has been derived from Latin word 'per sonnare¶, which meansto speak through. Personality is traditionally refers to how people influence others through their externalappearances(actions) more precisely. The term personality can be defined as.Personality is a pattern of stable slates and characteristics of a person that influences his behaviour toward goalachievement. Each person has a unique ways of protecting these states."

"Personality is a broad amorphous designation relating to fundamental approaches of persons to

others and themselves. To most psychologists the term refers to the study of characteristic traits

of an individual, relationship between these trails and the way in which a person adjusts to other

people and situations."

"Personality is the sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with others. Thisis most oftendescribed in terms of measurable personality traits that a person exhibits""Personality is the dynamic organisation within the individual of those psychological systemsthat determine his unique adjustments to his environment.Academician define personality as.(a) External appearance and behaviour

(b) The inner awareness of the self as a permanent organising force, and(c) The particular organisation of measurable traits, both inner and outer.Determinants of Individual Personality: People are very complex. They have different abilitiesand interests.Most failures on job, however, are not attributable to a person's amount of intelligence alone butalso to certain personality characteristics. The personality is influenced by four major factors as:(a) Cultural factors



(b) Family and social factors

(c) Situational factors(d) Biological factors.

(a) Cultural factors: Culture largely determines what a person is and what a person will learn.The culture with

in a person is brought up, is very important determinant of behaviour of a person. Culture is the

complex of these beliefs, values and techniques/or dealing with the environment which are

shared among contemporaries and transmitted by one generation to the next. Culture required

both conformity and acceptance from its members. According to Mussen, each culture expects

and trails its members to behave in the ways that are acceptable to the group. Inspite of the

importance of the culture on personality, researchers are unable to establish linear relationship

between these two concepts 'personality and culture'.

(b) Family & Social Factors: Family and social factors are important in shaping personality of anindividual.The impact of these factors on personality can be understood by socialization process andidentification process.Socialization Process: The contribution of family and social group in combination with theculture is known as

socialization. It initially starts with the contact with the mother and later on the others members

of the family (father, brother, sister, co- relatives) & the social group plays influential role in

shaping an individual's personality.

Identification Process: Identification starts when a person begins to identify himself with someother membersof the family. Normally child tries to behave as father or mother. He tries to emulate certainactions of his parents.

Apart from socialization & identification processes, the personality of an individual is influenced

by the home environment. There is a substantial evidence to indicate that the overall

environment at home is created by parents is critical to personality development.

Family background apart, social class also influences a person's perception, perception of self and others, and perception of work, authority and money etc.(c) Situational Factors: The effect of environment is quite strong. Knowledge, skill and languageare acquired

and represent important modifications of the behaviour. Learned modification in behaviour are

not passed on to the children, they must be acquired by them through their own personal

experience, through interaction with the environment According to Milgram situation exerts an



important press on the individual. It exercises constraints and may provide push. hi certain

circumstances it is not so much the kind of situation in which he is placed, that determine his

actions. He demonstrated that situation may potentially have a very big impact on the behavioral

expression of personality.

(d) Biological Factors: These can be discussed into three broad head:

(i) Physical features

(ii) Brain

(iii) Heredity

(i) Physical Features: Physical stature is the most important factor that contributes to personality.An

individual's external appearance is proved to be having a tremendous effect on his personality.

For instance, the fact that person is short or tall, fat or skinny, handsome or ugly, black or whitish

will undoubtedly influence the person's effect on others and in turn, will affect the self concept.

(ii) Brain: It is another biological factor that influence the personality. Research in this field havegivenindication that better understanding of human personality and behaviour might come from thestudy of the brain(iii) Heredity : Certain characteristics primarily physical in nature are inherited from one's parents, transmitted by genes in the chromosomes contributed by each parent The heredity playsan important role in one's personality. The importance of heredity varies from one personalitytrait to another. For instance, heredity is generally more important in determining a person'stemperament than values and ideas.

Q. 7.2. Can personality be measured ? If yes then discuss the various techniques and tests bywhich personalitycan be measured.Measurement of Personality : Psychologists have devised a number of tests to measure thevarious aspects of personality, these are :

(1) Projective Techniques

(2) Situational Tests

(3) Personality Inventories.

(1)'Projective Techniques: These techniques are based on assumptions that responses tounstructured stimuli

are likely to indicate an individual's underlying motives, attitudes and aspirations. These include

ink blots, incomplete sentences, ambiguous pictures, etc. It is called projective techniques

because the individual attributes his own traits or feelings to other persons or to inanimate

objects. They reveal the crucial aspects of personality. The two widely used projective tests are.



(a) Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)(b) Rorschach Test

(a) Thematic Apperception Test: It assumes that the meaning which an individual sees. in a picture indicates something of his past experience, feelings, attitudes and motives. Apperceiving

relates to perception of a situation largely in terms of past experience rather than the immediate present Here. the individual is exposed to ambiguous pictures and requested to make up a storyfor each. The themes in these stories may involve conflict, affection, fear, contentment or achievements.(b) Rorschach Test: It involves ten cards containing ink blots. These ink blots are shown to theindividual at a

lime, in a prescribed way, with a request to state whatever he sees in them or whatever comes to

their mind in response to them. It is assumed that individual tends to project the predominating

aspects of his personality through these cards.

For example, One response to the card made by an adolescent girl whose parents were separatedwasFig. A Rorschach type ink-blo

"This looks like a person here and another {here and they are carrying something-they arefighting over the samething they are both trying to pull it towards themselves."(2) Situational Tests: Involves to study the individual in daily situations when he is interactingwith others,

solving a problem or exploring a new environment. The purpose of this study is to observe the

individual in a context, which is similar to the one for which he is under review. This facilitatesthe prediction as to how he will reget in a specific situation.

When it is not possible to arrange the situation, the individuals can be observed in their daily

environment consciously or at certain times in a day. For example, if the objective is to assess

their interpersonal skills, the examiner will observe them when they are working with other

persons.

3. Personality Inventories : These inventories are printed forms containing questions, adjectivesor statements

about human behaviour. They can be used to evaluate both normal and psychiatriccharacteristics. The individual is required to indicate his reactions to different items. The

inventories are scored and assessed in terms of percentiles or statistical norms. Initially, they

involve merely single trait such as introversion- extroversion, subsequently, they have been

replaced by multiple trait inventories. Relatively the inventories are less time consuming and

easy to administer however, in certain cases, the individuals can give false impression about

themselves if they desire to do so.



Q. 7.3. Explain the various theories of personality. Which of them is convincing to you and why?Theories of Personality: Our time researchers have developed a number of personality theories.Personalitytheories can be grouped with five categories.

(a) Trait theory

(b) Freud theory

(c) Adler and Jung theories

(d) Social learning theories

(e) Holistic theories.

(a) Trait Theory : A personality trait can be defined as "an enduring attribute of a person thatappearsconstantly in a variety of situations."(i) Individual can be described in terms of construction of traits such as affiliation, achievement,

anxiety,aggression and dependency.(ii) Trait distinguish one personality from another.

(iii) The traits and the amount of each trait that a person has is assumed to be stable fairly and the

differences in personality and behaviour between two individuals is assumed to be the result of

the differences in the amount of each that each person has.

Thousands of words in English language refer to the characteristics of behaviour of traits. But the

fundamental question is how to reduce them to small number of meaningful nails. One technique

is the factor analysis. It is a complex statistical technique for reducing large number of

personality traits into small number of independent traits. The technique has the advantage of

reducing several hundred test responses. Norman provided the different descriptive objective

pairs of words for the same kind to trait (table )

Extroversion



ExtroversionTalkative--- SilentOpen--- SecretiveAdventures²Cautions

Agreeableness

Good natured--- Irritable

Gentle--- Headstrong

Cooperative--- Negativist

Conscientions nessTidy--- CarelessResponsible--- UndependablePreserving --- QuittingEmotional Stability

Calm---Anxious

Poised--- Nervous

Not Hypochodriacal --- Hypochodriacal

Culture



Artistically Sensitive ---Artistically insensitive

Refined --- Boorish

Intellectual--- Unreflective

Trait DimensionDescriptive Objective PairsExtroversion

Talkative--- Silent

Open--- Secretive

Adventures²Cautions



Agreeableness

Good natured--- Irritable

Gentle--- Headstrong

Cooperative--- Negativist

Conscientions nessTidy--- CarelessResponsible--- UndependablePreserving --- QuittingEmotional Stability

Calm---Anxious

Poised--- Nervous

Not Hypochodriacal --- Hypochodriacal

Culture

Artistically Sensitive ---Artistically insensitive

Refined --- Boorish

Intellectual--- Unreflective

(b) Freud Theory : Freud contributed significantly towards the understanding of human behaviour through his

concept of unconsciousness. According to freud, human mind is composed of three elements (i)

the preconscious (ii) the conscious and (iii) the unconscious. The items in the mind that can be

recognized only through freud association method are preconscious. The conscions element is

concerned with thoughts, feelings, beliefs and desires that we can learn about ourselves through

introinspection. The unconscious is basically concerned with ideas and wishes that can not be

learned through introinspection but can be determined from hypnotism, dreams and Freidian

Therapecific Techniques. According to Freud, the conscious is guided by a reasoned reality

principle and the unconscious is guided by the famous hedonist principle of pleasure. Freud

developed an organisation of personality consisting of three structures within the human mine-

the id, the ego and the superego. Their pans of the mind are primarily responsible for originating

human actions and reactions and modifications.

Id: Is the original and the most basic system of human personality. It consists of everything psychologically that

is inherited and present at the time of the birth. At the base of the Freudian theory lies the id that

is primitive, instinctual and governed by the principles of greedy and pleasure. Id represents a

storehouse of all instincts, containing in its dark depths all wishes, desires and unconsciously

direct and determine our behaviour. Id is largely childish, irrational, never satisfied, demanding



and destructive of others. Id. is the foundation upon which all other parts of the personality are

erected.

Ego: As an individual learns to separate the unreality from reality in childhood, the ego develops.The ego is the reality oriented pan in thinking, it is largely practical and works in an executive

capacity. Ego is rational and logical and in essence it is the conscious mediator between therealities of the world and the id's demand. It constantly work to keep a healthy psychological balance between id's impulsive demands and super ego's restrictive guidance. Ego regulates andintegrates the inner motives and conflicting demands, defends the person by using defensemechanisms and master's the person's goals. The ego develops by creating an effective perceptual mechanism that enables a person to adjust to the reality principle viz., tolerance of tension, expectation of punishment, awareness of things and associated inhibitions of actions.The most important characteristics of ego is that it has the ability to distinguish between mentalimages and actual sources of tension release, and it responds to the real sources of tensioneducation. If the ego succeeds, the individual is content, otherwise he will be dissatisfied andhave a menial stress, ambivalence and burn out.

Super ego:It represents noblest thoughts, ideals, feelings that are acquired by a person from his parents, teachers, friends, religion, organisation and colleagues etc. As a child grows and absorbs parental and cultural altitudes and values, he develops a super ego. It is also labeled as 'ago-ideal'that tells the individual what is acceptable. The primary concern of super ego is to determinewhether the action proposed by ego is the right or wrong so that the individual acts in accordancewith the values and standards of the society. If people violate the prohibitions of super ego theymay feel guilty.

In Freudian theory of personality, the instinctual drives of id and super ego are constantly

battling each other and seeking to breakout of bonds of reason the ego. As a person becomes torn

between this conflict, a friction develops and results in anxiety, an ominous feeling that all is notwell. Anxiety creates tension and as such as a person resorts 10 defensive mechanism in order to

reduce tension.

Adler and Jung theory : Adler emphasized the thrust for superiority as a drive which motivatesthe individual. He developed the concepts of compensation and the inferiority complex based onthe drive for power. Individuals who are weak in one area of work tend to excel in another areaof work. Adler stressed social relationships instead of innate or biological factors. This as well ashis stress on individual uniqueness, style of life and the creative self bring him close to moderntheorists who consider themselves as psychoanalytic in approach.

Jung developed analytical psychology stressing the unconscious aspect of psychoanalysis. He postulated (he collective unconsciousness. According to him, personality is based on

predisposing patterns borrowed by the individual from his ancestors. His collective unconscious

extends back through previous generations to the dawn of history. It is his notion of heredity

transference of acquired features, which is the least acceptable to modem theorists. Despite in

stress in the past Jung asserted that the operation of an individual's personality is as much future



oriented as rooted in the past. To the extent he asserted that the individual was not bound to the

past but could effectively build his future was a dynamic optimist.

(c) Social learning theory: The theory considers the situation as an important determinant of behavior as against trait theories which assume that personality is characterized by the enduring

traits of an individual. According to this theory, an individual's action in a given situation,individual¶s appraisal of the situation and post enforcement to behavior is somewhat similar situations. When the situation they encounter are relatively stable, individual's behavior will bemore or less consistent.

The main focus of the learning approach is on the patterns of behavior the individual learns in

coping with environment. Some behavior patterns are learned or acquired through direct

experience. Responses can also be acquired or learned without direct reinforcement. Social

learning theorists believe that reinforcement is not necessary for learning but they accept the

view (hat reinforcement facilitates learning by focusing attention. According to social learning

school, much of the human learning is vicarious or observational.

Reinforcement though not necessary for learning is very crucial for the performance of learned

behavior. The assumption of this theory is that people behave in the ways likely to produce

reinforcement. An individual's repertoire of learned behaviors is extensive; the particular action

chosen for specific situation depends upon me expected outcome. The reinforcement that

controls the expression of learned behavior may be

(a)Direct: Refers to the social approval or disapproval or alleviation of aversive conditions andother tangible rewards.(b) Vicarious: Refers to observation of someone else receiving reward or punishment for similar behavior.(c)Self- administered: Refers to evaluation of one's own performance with self praise or reproach. Of all these, self administered reinforcement theory plays a vital role in social learningtheory(b) Holistic Theories: Kolas a has grouped several theorists under a common title-Holistictheorists. They include holistic, organism and field theorists who stress on the totality and inter relatedness of all kinds of human behavior. In spite of the common aspect of emphases on theindividual as a whole, they differ in many ways.

Maslow has focused on the concept of needs derived from the positive and optimistic dimensions

of the individual's total functioning He has structured several levels of needs i.e. the hierarchy of

needs. His concept of self actualization need is of great significance. His concept of hierarchy of needs has been greatly relied upon to understand human behavior in organizational settings.

Rogers visualizes personality in terms of the organism (or of the whole individual) functioning in

a phenomenal field (or the entire experience). The patterns of perceptions in this field provide the

basis for me self which seeks to become consistent with itself and its environment If this is not

possible for any reason the organism is exposed to threats . Based on his approach a new school

of thought called phenomenology has developed. This viewpoint assumes that the reality for the



individual consists of what he perceives in his field or experiences instead of things as they

factually are.

Herzberg approach considers man in his two aspects. One aspect of the man is 'Adam' or the

animal nature which aims to avoid the pain of adjustment to the environment, which the other

aspect is Abraham which motivates him to achieve and add to his existence the Adam aspect of man possesses hygiene needs which are satiated through salary, working conditions and fringe

benefits. The Abraham aspect of man involves needs which are motivators including those

related to psychological growth of the individual in work settings, job enlargement, etc.

According to Lewin (field theorists) Lewin interprets Lumen behaviors and depicts the

individuals personality in a perceptual field in physical units. The field has been considered on

the psychological life space of the individual with forces attracting or diverting him in respect of

a goal.

Festinger has postulated cognitive dissonance as a motivating condition in the individual. Assoon as two conditions of an individual are inconsistent with each other, he tends to change oneof them to adhere to the other minimising the dissonance.Q. 7.4. Write a brief note on personality traits.Personality Traits : Personality traits are the enduring characteristics that describe an individual's behaviour. The early work in the structure of personality revolved around attempts to identifyand level enduring characteristics that describe an individual's behaviour. Popular characteristicsinclude shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitions, loyal and timid. Efforts to isolate traits have been hindered because there are so many of them. In one study, 17,953 individual traits wereidentified. One researcher isolated 171 traits but concluded that they were superficial and lackingin descriptive power. Then he reduced these set of traits in sixteen set of traits (Table 7.2). Thesesixteen traits have been found to be generally steady and constant source of behaviour, allowing prediction of an individual's behaviour in specific situations by weighting the characteristics for their situational relevance.

PRIMARY TRAITS:

1 .Reserved vs. Outgoing2. Less intelligent vs More intelligent3. Affected by feelings vs. Emotionally stable4. Submissive vs .Dominant5. Seriousvs.Hapy-go-lucky6.Expedientvs.Conscientious7.Timid



vs.Venturesome8.Tough-mindedvs.

Sensitive9.Trustingvs.Suspicious10.Practicalvs.Imaginative11.Forthright

vs.Shrewd12.Self-assuredvs.Apprehensive13.Conservativevs.Experimenting14.Group-dependentvs.Self-sufficient15.Uncontrolledvs.Controlled16.Relaxedvs.Tense

Traits can additionally be grouped to form personality types. Instead of looking at specific

characteristics, we can group these qualities that go together into a single category. For example,



ambition and aggression tend to be highly correlated. Efforts to reduce the number of traits into

common groups tend to isolate introversion extroversion and something approximating high

anxiety and extroversion would be tense, excitable, unstable, warm, sociable and dependent.

Composed, confident, trustful, adaptable, warm, sociable and dependent

Tense, excitable, unstablecold, and skyComposed, confident, trustful,adaptable, calm, cold, and skyFour Types Thesis

High anxiety Low anxiety

Tense, excitable, unstablewarm,sociable,

anddependent

As the trails ignore situational contents, they are not contingent oriented and therefore largely

ignore the dynamic interchange that occurs between a person's personality and his environment.

As a result, personality trails tend to be more valuable as predictors with individuals who hold a

trait at its extreme. We might be able to predict some common behaviours among extreme

extroverts or individuals who are highly anxious. But since the majority of people are in the vast

middle range on most trait characteristics, personality traits must be considered in their

situational context.

THE ABILITY ±JOB FIT (PERSONALITY-JOB FIT)

This explains and predicts the behaviour of people at work. Jobs make deferring demands on

people and that people differ in the abilities they possess. Employee performance, therefore, is

enhanced when there is a high ability-job fit. for adequate job performance depend on the ability

requirements of the job.

So, for example, performance standards. Directing attention at only the employee's abilities or the ability requirements of the job ignores that employee performance depends on the interaction

of the two.

What predictions can we make when the fit is poor? As alluded to previously, if employees lack

the required abilities, they are likely to fail. If you are hired as a word processor and you can't

meet the job's basic keyboard typing requirements, your performance is going to be poor

irrespective of your positive attitude or your high level of motivation. When the ability-job fit is



out of sync because the employee has abilities that far exceed the requirements of the job, our

predictions would be very different. Job performance is likely to be adequate, but there will be

organizational inefficiencies and possible declines in employee satisfaction. Given that pay tends

to reflect the highest skill level that employees possess, if an employee's abilities far exceed that

necessary to do the job, management will be paying more than it needs to. Abilities significantly

above those required can also reduce the employee's job satisfaction when the employee¶s desireto use his or abilities is particularly strong and is frustrated by the limitation of the job.

MATCHING PERSONALITY AND JOBS

Obviously, individual personalities differ. So, too, do jobs. Following this logic, efforts have

been made to match the proper personalities with the proper jobs. The most researched

personality job-fit theory is the six- personality-types model. This model states that an

employee's satisfaction with and propensity to leave his or her job

Holland's Typology of Personality and Sample Occupations

TypePersonality CharacteristicsSample Occupations

Realistic: Prefers physical activities that require skill, strength and coordination

Shy, genuine, persistent, stable,conforming, PracticalMechanical, drill press operator,assemblyline worker , farmer Investigative:Prefers

activities Involving thinking , organising and understanding.

Analytical,original,Curious,independentBiologist, economist, Mathematician,news reporter Social: Prefers activities that involvehelping and developing othersSociable, friendly, cooperative,understandingSocial worker, teacher, counselor,



clinical psychologistConventional:Prefers

rule- regulated, orderly and nambiguous activities

Conforming, efficient, practical,unimaginative , inflexibleAccountant , corporate Manager, bank teller, File clerk Enterprising : prefers verbalactivitieswherethere

are opportunities to influence other and attain power

Self-confident,

ambitious, energetic, domineering Business manager

Lawyer, real-estate Agent, publicrelations specialist, small

Artistic: Prefers ambiguous and unsystematic activities that allow creative expression

Imaginative, disorderly, idealistic ,

emotional, practicalPainter, musician, writer, Interior decorator



Depend on the degree to which the individual¶s personality matches his or her occupational

environment . Six major personality types have been identified . They are listed in Exhibit 3-2,

along with their compatible occupations.

**************************LESSON NO. 5ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION

Organizational behaviour modification (referred to as OBMod, for short) developed separately

from goal-setting, and has different explanations for behaviour. Nevertheless, in recent years

links have developed between the two that make them a powerful combination.

In the chapter on personality we looked at internal, dispositional approaches to understanding

behaviour. Organizational behaviour modification, on the other hand, takes a situational, or



external, approach. It Concentrates on behaviour and the events in the environment that

encourage or discourage such behaviour, rather than on attitudes or personality.

We have already dealt, in Chapter 2, with the links between personality and behaviour, but whatof attitudes?

Once again, the assumption underlying the internal, dispositional approach is that attitudes cause behaviour. This

assumption, as we have seen, is questionable. There is considerable evidence to show that there

is a fairly weak relationship between attitudes and behaviour. Indeed, attitudes often express how

we think we would like to see ourselves behaving than rather how we actually behave. For

example, attitude surveys suggest that the general public is against the invasion of privacy by the

press. However, newspaper editors have firm evidence that the pictures and stories resulting

from such invasions increase sales. Alistair Cooke has reported that over 70 per cent of the

American public thought that television coverage of the pre-trial of the American hero 0. J.

Simpson was undesirable. But over 90 per cent had watched

It also appears that the assumption that attitudes cause behaviour is only part of the picture.

There is evidence from psychological research to suggest that behaviour can influence the

formation and change of attitudes. The attitude/behaviour relationship is interactive. For

example, before the wearing of seat-belts was made compulsory, the UK government spent

considerable sums of money trying to change the public's attitude to seat- belt wearing. Despite

many different publicity campaigns the level of seat-belt usage remained depressingly low. Upon

the introduction of legislation making seat-belt wearing compulsory, with financial and other

penalties for non-compliance, usage leapt to almost 100 per cent. Although we have no direct

evidence, we suspect that this change in behaviour also produced a change in attitude toward

seat-belt usage. The same may be true for drinking and driving.

There are a number of possible explanations of why the way we behave should influence our

attitudes, but perhaps the most appealing involves the concept of consistency. We like to be

consistent and keep our behaviours and attitudes in line with each other. If we behave in a

particular way we feel that this must be a representation of our attitudes.

The OBMod approach, therefore, ignores attitudes and personality and concentrates solely uponobservable behaviour.Exercise:

Before reading further, you should turn to Appendix 4 and attempt the case study onabsenteeism.

The basic postulate of OBMod can be stated very simply - so simply that some may say it is just

applied common sense. It is that behaviour is determined by its consequences. In other words,

people learn to behave in ways that produce rewards, and avoid behaving in ways that produce

either no rewards or even punishment. Inevitably, managers will already be using some of the



techniques that will be discussed, but without being aware of their theoretical background. By

providing a theoretical structure, we will enable managers to make

more effective use of the techniques. OBMod is based on the work of psychologists who studiedlearning, or to use the technical term, conditioning. In particular, the names most commonly associated withthe theory are

those of Thomdike and, perhaps most commonly, Skinner. Skinner takes the approach that since

we cannot observe mental states such I as attitudes and personality traits, we should concern

ourselves only with observable behaviour. If we extend this to the work situation, what managers

should be concerned with is not employees' attitudes, but how they behave (i.e. what they do). It

is often difficult to get managers to talk only of behaviour. They often, quite understandably,:

slip into talking about personalities and attitudes. But employees' attitudes should not be themanager's concern, as long as they are behaving correctly. Organizations do not pay people for

the attitudes, they hold, but for their behaviour. As such, we are perfectly justified in asking

someone to behave differently. We are not justified in trying to change their personality or

attitudes, even if we could. We cannot change personality; we can change behaviour. As with

goal-setting, however, the required behaviour must be described as precisely as possible.



We have said that behaviour is determined by its consequences. How can these be classified?The possible rangeis shown below:

� We receive something nice

� Something nasty is taken away� Something nice is taken away

� Something nasty is given

NICE NASTYPositivereinforcementPunishmentPunishment Negative

reinforcement

The first two consequences lead to an increase in-the behaviour that preceded them. To use the

correct technical term, they are reinforcers, because they reinforce the behaviour concerned. The

first, giving something nice, is called positive reinforcement, the second, negative reinforcement,

because something nasty is taken away. The last two are different forms of punishment. They

will tend to suppress the behaviour that occurs before them.

All of these" may be neatly summarized in a diagram, as shown in Figure 5.1. There is one

outcome, however, that will not fit into the diagram, that is if, following the behaviour, it is

neither rewarded nor punished. This will lead to the behaviour not being repeated.

Most managers, we find, are fairly happy with positive reinforcement, but negative

reinforcement is not as clear. Let us take an example from parenthood. We find it unpleasant

when a baby cries. If, by picking the baby up, we stop it crying, we will pick it up the next time it

cries. Stopping the cries negatively reinforces our behaviour of picking the baby up, as it stops

the nastiness. (Note that, from the baby's point of view, being picked up is nice and hence the

crying is positively reinforced. Next time the baby wants to be picked up, it will cry.) Another

amiliar example is a fire alarm. The loud noise of the alarm is unpleasant and people will try to

escape from it. They do so by getting out of the building; leaving the building has been

negatively reinforced - the noise stops.

Now that the range of possible consequences has been described, let us consider how effective

each one can be at influencing behaviour. This is where, in some respects, common sense and

psychology part company. We think you will agree, after considering the arguments, that

psychology has the more accurate explanation.



The effectiveness of each of the consequences is largely determined by how frequently it

follows, or does not follow, each occurrence of the behaviour. These patterns of how frequently

behaviour is rewarded or punished are called schedules.

How to maintain behaviour. If we are trying 10 get someone to learn a new behaviour then it is

appropriate to reinforce their successful attempts every time they occur; but what aboutmaintaining behaviour that has already been learnt? Consider a schedule that has already been

learnt, where the behaviour is rewarded, let us say, every twenty times it occurs. For example,

pulling a lever to obtain a reward, If the mechanism was switched off, how quickly would you

realize there was no point in pulling the lever any more? Probably after between 20 and 40

further pulls. Now consider the situation where the reward occurs on average every twenty times.

The reward could be on the next pull of the lever or many hundreds of pulls later. To deter mine

when this mechanism had been switched off would take a very long time indeed. This is the

principle, of course, of one-armed bandit machines. This is also why you keep being trapped by

the company 'bore'. You have only (o reward them by paying attention once every so often and

they will continue to pester you. This is called variable ratio reinforcement. Variable ratioreinforcement is far more effective in maintaining behaviour, even undesirable behaviour, than

reinforcement that occurs every time (fixed ratio reinforcement). The person knows it will pay

off at some time, so they keep trying.

(As well as fixed and variable ratios, there can also be fixed and variable times. The effects are

similar; fixed time reinforcement is a relatively ineffective way of maintaining behaviour. It

remains, of course, the most common way of paying salaries).

How to stop undesirable behaviour. What options are open to us if we now want [o stop

undesirable behaviour? The strategies available are those of punishment and non-reward. (Notice

here that non-reward is not the same as ignoring. Non-reward means that the person gets no benefit whatsoever as a result of their behaviour.) Which of these strategies, non-reward or

punishment is likely to be more effective in changing behaviour?

All the evidence suggests that non-reward leads to the behaviour being extinguished, punishment

merely suppressed it. This is not to say that punishment is never effective. Punishment, by itself,

can be effective under certain conditions. (When reading further it might be instructive to think

of the ways in which society tries to suppress crime.)

Unfortunately for managers (and perhaps for society in general), the ways in which rewards and

punishment influence behaviour are not the same. For rewards to be effective in maintaining behaviour they need occur only every so often, (Think of the fruit machine as an example.)

Punishment, on the other hand, has to fulfil two criteria if it is to be effective. It must occur every

time the behaviour occurs, and as soon as possible after the behaviour. This may help us under

stand why hangovers rarely have a long-term influence over drinking habits. The rewards of

drinking to excess are immediate, the punishment is some way off. In addition, you may

sometimes escape without having a hangover. (Interestingly, one way of treating alcoholics is to

use drugs that produce an unpleasant effect immediately after any alcohol is consumed.) The



same argument applies to many aspects of preventive medicine, e.g. smoking, diet, etc. The

rewards are immediate, the possible negative consequences some way off. It is unlikely that

teenagers' smoking habits will be influenced by the prospect of lung disease when they are old.

To summarize: to keep undesirable behaviour going it needs to be reinforced only once every so

often (variable ratio reinforcement), to stop it by using punishment requires punishment to beadministered every time. It is hardly surprising that prisons are a highly ineffective way of

influencing the behaviour of criminals.

As an example of how organizations attempt to use punishment, take the case of trying to deal

with persistent lateness by a particular individual. One method commonly used is the memo. A

memo pointing out the requirements for strict time-keeping is sent to everyone, including the

culprit. This may affect the culprit's behaviour for a short time , but they will then start re-

offending. The other effect it will have is on those who are innocent, who may arrive late

occasionally but do not abuse the system, and who compensate by working into their lunch

break. Often these individuals will rebel, working strictly to the clock.

The other common method is to ignore the problem in its early stages. Each individual late

arrival is recorded, but is not commented on. When an unacceptable number have accumulated a

'trigger point' is reached. This is normally a specified number of latenesses over a specified

period. What follows is a gradual escalation of punishment. Oral warnings are followed by

written warnings. These are then followed by formal dismissal procedures. Under these

circumstances, punishment is unlikely to be effective. For it to be so, the individual needs be

made aware that each and every incidence will be questioned as soon as it occurs, and that

moderate sanctions will be applied. (Very harsh sanctions would probably lead to avoidance

through absenteeism.)

It should be apparent that the conditions for using punishment or discipline effectively are very

limited. Managers, and other individuals with responsibility for enforcement, are rarely in a

position where they can monitor people all the time. The difficulties associated with the effective

use of punishment lead us, therefore, to the following conclusion:

Schemes should concentrate on the encouragement of desirable behaviour rather than trying touse discipline toeliminate the undesirable.

So far we have been considering the effects of punishment alone. Most effective, however, is

when punishment for the undesirable behaviour is coupled with reinforcement of the desired

behaviour. Under such circumstances the punishment does not have to fulfil the requirements

just described; even mild and infrequent punishment

will be effective. Just raised eyebrows from a boss who uses reinforcement effectively will beenough todiscourage unwanted behaviour.



Now that we have dealt with the basic concepts, let us consider some applications. One nice

example of the difference between fixed ratio and variable ratio reinforcement is one that will be

immediately applicable, if you want to improve the productivity of beaver trappers! One group

of beaver trappers in the Canadian forests were given a $1bonus for every beaver skin. Another

similar group were given the chance to roll dice each time they brought in a skin. If they rolled

two successive odd numbers they got $4. The cost of each of the schemes was the same.Productivity in the first group rose by 50 per cent, in the latter group by 108 per cent (Saari and

Latham, 1982).

Another area in which OBMod has been used is in dealing with absenteeism and lateness. At this

point you should turn to your suggestions for solving the problem at Chestnut hospital (Appendix

4). We suspect that you will have adopted a medical model (no pun intended) in trying to solve

the problem. Such a model sees absenteeism as a symptom of some underlying problem. The

assumption is that absenteeism is a symptom of dissatisfaction with some aspect, or aspects, of

the job. The solution, therefore, i? to improve job satisfaction. This may indeed have some

impact, but there is often a limit to what can be done to improve satisfaction, shift- work stillneeds to be worked, and many other 'dirty' and undesirable jobs need to be done. In addition, the

rewards for staying away from work are powerful, and rarely capable of being influenced by

management.

OBMod, on the other hand, looks not at the influences that are thought to underlie absenteeism,

but rather at the consequences to the employee of attendance or non-attendance. It adopts a

'direct action' model. Let us consider some possibilities.

Some schemes have used reinforcement as an alternative. One such example was reported from afactory in Liverpool. The factory was to be closed and the production lines transferred to another

part of the country. The workers were under notice of redundancy, but it was essential that

production be maintained until the new factory was in production. Unfortunately, the factory was

suffering absenteeism levels of 30 per cent and above, due to a 'mystery virus' that appeared to

strike mainly on Mondays and Fridays. Because of the law relating to redundancy, pay could not

be stopped for these absences. In order to improve attendance, management instituted a weekly

prize draw of £500. Participation in the draw was by means of tickets. Each employee received a

draw ticket whenever they attended for work on time. Absenteeism dropped to very low levels

and the management reported that workers were even turning up on their days off in order to

collect tickets. Other schemes have used a cash bonus, paid to every employee who had attendedon a number of randomly selected days during a set period - the random choice of days provided

the variable ratio.

These further examples demonstrate one of the conditions under which such reinforcement

works best; the expenditure of a little additional investment on the part of the individual, together

with the potential for a large pay-out - for example football pools and national lotteries. Indeed,

the use of prize draws is widely used as a marketing technique.



Some managers object to such schemes on the basis that you are paying people extra to do what

they are already being paid to do. This is a perfectly legitimate position to take. If, however, you

have tried everything else, what do you do? Your principles may also have a cost - continuing

high levels of absenteeism.

It is perhaps worth noting the contrast between schemes that reward attendance, and those that punish absenteeism. Schemes that use punishment usually do so by giving an attendance bonus

and then removing it for an absence. (On initial inspection the attendance bonus may sound like

a reward, but this was not the way it was perceived, as we shall see.) For example, managers

recently tried to improve the attendance of a group of UK civil servants (driving test examiners)

by giving a £30 weekly bonus for attendance. The whole sum was forfeited for any non-

attendance during the week, no matter what the reason for the absence. The scheme provoked a

national one-day strike! It might be worth considering how this, not inconsiderable, sum could

have been used to improve attendance by variable ratio reinforcement.

An interesting example of the removal of reinforcers was reported by the Merseyside police.They used to concentrate upon catching those who were stealing car stereo equipment, to little

effect. They then switched their strategy to that of identifying those cars whose owners might

have purchased stolen stereos. They examined parked cars, looking for incongruities, for

example, an old car with a high priced modern stereo, and then contacted the owners for an

explanation. As soon as it became known that this was happening, the market for stolen stereos

declined sharply.

It is very common, in fact, to find organizations actually rewarding the very behaviour that they

say they wish to discourage. Some organizations, for example, give annual budgets to

departments. If it is not all spent, ii is reclaimed by the centre and next year's budget is cut. As

the manager of such a department what do you logically do in these circumstances? - you spendup to your budget limit.

There are also organizations which use positive reinforcement effectively, perhaps without

knowing the terminology involved. One of them employs tanker drivers to deliver hazardous

liquids and gases to customers. These are delivered through complicated valves and pipes that

transfer the chemicals from the tanker to the

customer's tanks. Drivers who phone for advice receive a bonus each time they do so. It might bethought that this would encourage drivers to phone for trivial reasons and, indeed, the system

may be Open to some abuse. Consider however, the situation that may occur where workers are

discouraged from asking, usually because they tear some form of punishment, even if only

ridicule. Which costs would the company rather bear - some trivial requests for advice, or a

tanker exploding in a city street?



The other examples are from two organizations which are probably aware of the theoretical

background. Both are large American organizations - Xerox and American Airlines. At Xerox,

'X' certificates, redeemable for $25, were introduced into the personnel department. Every

member of the department, not just managers, could give Xs to others. They could be given for

any work-related behaviour, for example excellent attendance or cooperation. They could also be

given to people in other departments. At American Airlines, passengers are given coupons [hatthey may give to staff whom they feel deserve some recognition, (We are not sure how

effectively these schemes might transplant to the culture of the UK.)

A final example concerns the problems associated with routine maintenance procedures

('Komaki et al.., 1977). All the rewards and punishments are geared Co encourage short-cuts. If a

part is not checked, it will probably be ail right anyway, and the mechanic saves time right now.

In addition, there is no reinforcers to encourage them to carry out the checks as specified. If

something does eventually go wrong, then what evidence is there to rebut the claim that 'it

seemed all right when checked'? The evidence of successive reports by the consumer magazine

Which" on the quality of car servicing by garages lends strong support to our analysis. All of these examples show how behaviour may be influenced by reinforcers, but what different types

of re in forcers are there?

REINFORCERS

Reinforcers may be classified in a number of ways. Perhaps the most basic distinction is between

primary, secondary, and generalized. Primary reinforcers are those that are essential for life, such

?s food, water, etc. They equate closely to the physiological level of Maslow's hierarchy. For this

reason they are common to everyone. Unfortunately they may quickly lose their effectiveness as

reinforcers. This process is known as satiation. Food, for example, is only a reinforcers if you are

hungry. Immediately after a big meal the prospect of food is unlikely to be reinforcing.Secondary reinforcers gain their reinforcing strength through association with primary

reinforcers. Social reinforcers such as attention and praise originally gained their reinforcing

value because other people, e.g. parents, were the source of primary reinforcers. Other

reinforcers may gain their power from social reinforcers. Status symbols, for example, are

reinforcing because they are approved of by a social group that is important to the individual.

Finally, generalized reinforcers are so called because of their general effect. The best example is

money. This is reinforcing for most people because it can be exchanged for items that they find

reinforcing. For this reason generalized reinforcers are particularly powerful. In rganizations,

however, secondary reinforcers are widely used. We will return to this shortly.

Another important distinction between reinforcers has already been considered briefly in the

sections on Herzberg and the Job characteristics model (see Chapter 4). This is the distinction

between 'intrinsic' and 'extrinsic' motivators.

INTRINSIC VERSUS EXTRINSIC REINFORCERS



The difference between intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcers lies in whether they originate from the

job itself, or from external sources. This distinction is not always clear-cut. As we shall see,

some reinforcers may have elements of both.

Perhaps a good example of intrinsic reinforcement is provided by computer games especially, it

would appear, for adolescent males. The rewards are so powerful that for some the games become almost addictive. This reinforcement is also an example of what Bandura (1986) would

call a 'naturally-occurring' reinforcement. Such

reinforcers follow automatically from the behaviour concerned. Many intrinsic reinforcers arenaturally-occurring.

Unlike intrinsic reinforcement, extrinsic reinforcement has to be provided 'artificially'. Pay is

perhaps the classic example of an extrinsic reinforcer. Behaviour does not automatically produce

pay as reinforcement. Administrative schemes have to be developed to ensure that it is delivered.

According to Deci (1975'), the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcement is notone of merelyacademic interest- It has considerable practical implications,

Intrinsic reinforcement is, other things being equal, more powerful than extrinsic reinforcement.

It is also, from the organization's point of view, the most cost-effective. If individuals get high

levels of reinforcernent just from doing the job, they are likely to do the job more effectively. As

we have seen, jobs can be redesigned so as to enhance such intrinsic reinforcement. It would,

however, be naive to assume that everyone can have a job that is intrinsically reinforcing. For those in this fortunate situation, doing the job is a pleasure in itself.

What happens when extrinsic motivation, such as pay, is 'added' to a task that is already

intrinsically reinforcing? According to Dec. (1975) the effect of introducing the extrinsic

reinforcer is to 'undermine' the strength of the intrinsic reinforcer. If you start paying people for

doing things that they presently do because they enjoy doing them, you will reduce the level of

intrinsic reinforcement. Individuals, when given such extrinsic reinforcement, seem to switch

from being intrinsically motivated, to being extrinsically motivated. This is likely to mean that

once you have started extrinsic reinforcement, you will have to continue with it if you want the

behaviour to continue. You will not be able to rely on a return to intrinsic motivation producing

the same levels of effort.

Whilst initial studies tended to support Deci's theory, later work suggests that the effects of

extrinsic reinforcement are not as simple as originally thought. Pay, for example, does not

always reduce intrinsic motivation. As a result of these, and other, findings, Deci modified and

elaborated his ideas into what is now known as cognitive evaluation theory' (Deci and Ryan,

1980).



Cognitive evaluation theory makes the same basic distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic. It

now, however, makes a further distinction between two different types of extrinsic

reinforcement, Extrinsic reinforcers may he classified, according to Deci, according to whether

they are controlling or informational. Controlling extrinsic motivation will reduce intrinsic

motivation, informational extrinsic reinforcers will not reduce it, and may even enhance it.

Information, especially Chat which is seen as providing evidence of personal competence,appears to enhance intrinsic motivation. On the other hand, people tend to resent being

controlled,

Like other aspects of reinforcers, whether they are controlling or informational cannot be

determined objectively. Pay, for example, can be seen as Either. Pay may he perceived as a

method of control a bribe to behave in a particular way. Alternatively, it may be seen as a source

of information, indicating how management evaluates behaviour or performance. Whether it is

perceived as controlling, informational, or a mixture of the two, is something that can only be

determined subjectively. The individual's perception of its nature is what counts. Two

individuals may perceive the same pay rise in different ways. This will influence their behaviour.It will obviously be in the organization's interest to ensure that reinforcers are perceived as

informational rather than controlling.

The subjective nature of reinforcers is important. Many managers make the assumption that

everybody's reinforcers are the same. Indeed, they usually assume that they are the same as their

own (another example of the false consensus effect, see page 99). Some reinforcers are, indeed,

almost universal. Money is a good example, like most universal reinforcers, it is an example of a

generalized reinforcer it can be exchanged for other things that people want. If, however, the

pay-off was a night at the opera, how would you feel? Different people will have different

reactions. Some reinforcers arc difficult for others to understand. For example, adolescent

children often get reinforcement from 'winding up' their parents. The parents find this difficult to

understand as they feel that by shouting at their children and sending them to their room, they are

punishing them. II may also 'pay off because, when such arguments occur, real issues can be

avoided. (This is 'uproar' in TA terms - page 104.) To take an example that applies to many

societies, what are the reinforcers for the hooliganism of a minority of male adolescents? The

only method of accurately determining what the reinforcers are is to remove potential

reinforcers. When the behaviour stops, you have found the key. We can, however, speculate as to

what

They might be. It is quite likely that group approval is involved. As we shall see later, socialrewards are amongst the strongest reinforcers known. The disapproval of society may, strange as

it may seem, also be a potential reinforcer. Appearing in court or in the media may be reinforcing

- much like [he adolescent and parent situation described earlier. Given that these are some of the

potential reinforcers, what can society do about it? As we have seen, punishment is unlikely to be

effective. In order for it to work it must occur every time the disruptive behaviour occurs. This is

almost certainly impossible. We may be able to remove some of the reinforcers, for example,



media coverage. But perhaps the only effective method is to change the hooligans' perception of

what is n-reinforcing for them.

SOCIAL COGNITIVE THEORYExercise

Before reading further, please complete the career questionnaire in Appendix 5.

Earlier in this chapter we reminded you of the distinction between internal and external

explanations for people's behaviour. Personality theory in general tends to seek an internal

explanation for why people behave as they do. OBMod, on the other hand, tends to concentrate

on the situation, in its most radical form (e.g. Skinner, 1993), the importance of internal,

cognitive and affective (i.e. emotional), factors are. discounted altogether. This dichotomy,

between either totally internal or totally external explanations is, however, false. Internal and

external, as we have seen in the chapter on personality, interact with each other.

In behavioral theory this interact ion its approach is best expressed in 'social cognitive theory.'

This wasdeveloped by Bandura (1988), and grew out of his earlier social learning theory.

Social learning theory sought to explain some element of behaviour that did not appear

explicable in terms of 'radical' behaviorist theory. For example, it is not unusual to observe

someone perform a complex sequence of behaviours without there being of any evidence of them

having been previously reinforced. Adolescents who are keen to start driving often have a very

good idea of what to do in their first driving lesson, despite never having driven before. Radical,

behaviorist theory would require that these complex behaviours be shaped. Cruder, and then

increasingly more accurate approximations to each of the behaviours in the complex sequence of

'driving a car' would need to have been reinforced. Yet the evidence is that learning seems tohave taken place, without the behaviour being undertaken and reinforced. This suggests that

other processes are taking place.

It would appear that learning can take place cognitively, rather than behaviorally. We do not

apparently have to undertake the behaviour in order to learn. Nor do we have to experience

reinforcement, or punishment, directly. We can learn indirectly or, to use Bandura's term,

incawuaty. For example, when joining a new company we do not attempt to find out what the

norms are about time keeping, by arriving five minutes later each day until some one in authority

objects. Rather, we observe what behaviour in others is rewarded or punished. In other words,

we learn vicariously by watching other people. We assume that if we follow their examples we

will reap the same rewards, and avoid possible punishment. This process learning in the absence

of any observable behaviour - was originally called modeling. It is now more commonly referred

to as mastery modeling.

LESSON NO.6



VALUES, ATTITUDES AND JOB SATISFACTIONWHAT ARE VALUES ?

Values have a moral flavour. Values represent an individual's ideas as to what is right. Wrong,

good or bad or desirable. We all have a set of values and what we think is important Values

represent basic convictions that specific mode or conduct is personally or socially preferable toan opposite mode of conduct.

Values are important in the study of Organisation Behaviour, as they help us understandattitudes, perceptions,and motivations. Values generally influence one's behaviour.ALLPORT¶s CLASSIFICATION OF VALUES1. Theoretical i.e., discovery of a truth through rational approach.

2-Econom i c

3.Aest het i c

4.Soci al

5.Political i.e. relating to power and influence.

6.Reli gi ous

Different people have different set of values. Now a days, H is seen (bat particularly younger employees are bringing a set of new values to the workplace.WHAT ARE ATTITUDES?

Attitudes are evaluative statements concerning people, events or objects. They reflect how one

feels about something. An attitude can also be defined as an enduring organisation of motivational- emotional. perceptual and cognitive processes with respect to some aspect of the

individual world. An attitude is an entity or a process which exists in a person even though we

are unable to observe it directly A common feature of attitudes is that they involve emotional

reactions, a belief component- and an action component.

The emotional component of an attitude develops as a conditioned response be association with

stimuli that have either rewarding or punishing effects. Thus, affective components are learnt

through classical conditioning methods.

The cognitive component of a social attitude consists of the individual's perceptions, beliefs, and

ideas of an object. The behavioural component of attitude consists of the tendency to act or realtowards an object in certain Things.



In Organisation Behaviour, we are interested in the Attitude - Behaviour relationship It is not a

simple relationship, because behaviour is determined not only by attitudes, but also by external

factors in a given social system or situation.

Attitudes are not the same as values. Values are broader in concept. So attitudes are more

specific than valuescontain a moral flavor how ever. Values and attitudes are related to one another.Attitudes are acquired from parents, teachers and group members Attitudes are somewhat lessstable,Advertisement tends to change people 's attitudes towards a certain product or service .TYPES OF ATTITUDES

In organisations, attitudes are important because they affect job behaviour. A person has

thousands of attitudes, but from the organisational point of view, only 3 attitudes are of interest,

namely. Job satisfaction. Job Involvement, and Organisation commitment.

Job satisfaction refers to an employee's general attitude towards his job. A person with high level job satisfaction holds positive attitude towards the job, while an employee not satisfied with his

job holds negative attitude towards his job.

Job involvement measures the degree to which a person identifies with his job, his active

participation in it, and considers his performance important to his self-worth. Individuals who

express high commitment see their identity as closely attached to that of die organiastion.

Individuals who express high commitment see their identity as closely attached to that of the

organisation- Highly committed employees will be better performers and have lower turnover

than those having lower levels of commitment to the organisation.

FUNCTIONS OF ATTITUDES

All people have attitudes is to say the obvious. Attitudes are said to contribute to stability and

behavioural consistency. 4 (four) personality functions are served by the maintenance and

modification of social attitudes. They are 1) Adjustment, 2) Value expression, 3) Knowledge and

4) Ego-defensive. Let us study each of them in some detail:-

1. ADJUSTMENT FUNCTION

The function affirms that people strive to maximise the rewards and to minimise the penalties in

their external environment. Attitudes acquired in the service of the adjustment function are ameans for reaching desired goals or for avoiding undesirable result.

2. EGO-DEFENSIVE FUNCTION

Many of our attitudes have the function of defending our self-image. When we cannot admit to

ourselves that we have feelings of inferiority, we may project those feelings on some convenient

-minority group and better our egos by attitudes of superiority towards this minority group.



3. THE VALUE EXPRESSIVE FUNCTION

The function of value expressive attitudes is to reveal the self-image of a person. There are some

attitudes, which prevent the man from revealing his true nature to himself, and others, other

attitudes have the function of giving positive expression to his central values and to the type of

person he conceives himself to be.

4. THE KNOWLEDGE FUNCTION

This function is based on the need to understand, make sense of and give adequate structure to

the universe. Attitudes which are inadequate for dealing with new and changing situations are

discarded because they lead to contradictions and inconsistencies.

PROCESS OF ATTITUDE CHANGEAn attitude that no longer serves its function will cause the individual holding that attitude to feelfrustrated. To

change altitudes which serves an adjustment function, one or the two conditions must besatisfied: -1. The attitude and the activities related to it no longer provide the satisfaction they once provided- and2- The individual's level of aspiration has been raised.

For management, one way to change attitudes is to change the environment and its rewards.

Changes in attitudes occur more readily when people perceive that they can accomplish their

objectives by raising their existing altitudes.

The next important agent of attitude change is the opinion leader i.e. who interprets and relays

information to the rank and File members of the community If the manager is an opinion leader,

he may have a great influence on the attitudes developed by workers who hold him in high

esteem.

JOB SATISFACTION

Job satisfaction of an individual expresses one's altitude towards the job. It is all a question of

one's cognition, emotions, and behavioural tendencies- According to VROOM, job satisfaction is

the positive orientation of an individual towards the work, which he is presently performing- A

person with high level of job satisfaction holds very positive altitude about the workplace, and

conversely, a person dissatisfied with the job embraces negative attitudes towards the jobenvironment- The opposite of job satisfaction is job alienation.

Job satisfaction typically refers to the attitudes of a single employee. It may also refer to thegeneral level of attitude within the group.Job satisfaction is one part of life satisfaction. The nature of one's environment off the jobinfluences one's



feeling on the job. Job satisfaction influences one's general life satisfaction.

Job satisfaction is very important in OB., because it was assumed that high satisfaction leads to

high employee performance. This assumption may not be correct always HERZBERG¶s

Motivation model suggests that satisfaction is not always a strong motivator. The more accurate

relation ship is that high performance leads to high job satisfaction, which then becomesfeedback top influence future performance.

When people perform better, they will get higher rewards, which will lead to grater satisfaction.But, if rewardsare seen as inadequate for one¶s level of performance, dissatisfaction will occur.THEORIES OF JOB SATISFACTIONThere are 3 Major theories, which are mentioned below:-

1. Need fulfillment2. Reference Group

3. HERZBERG's 2-Factor theory.

According to Need fulfillment theory, a person is satisfied if he gets what he wants, and the morehe wants of something, the more satisfied he is when he gets it, and more dissatisfied when he does not get it

As per Reference group theory, although it is similar to the Need fulfillment theory, it is

predicted that an individual looks for guidance to a Reference group. If a job needs the interest,

desires, and requirements of a person's reference group, he will like it, and if it does not, he will

not like it.

HERZBERG's Theory relates to both performance and job satisfaction. It says that an enriched

job leads to job satisfaction. On the other hand, a non-enriched job can only lead to lack of

dissatisfaction, hence it cannot serve as a motivator leading to performance.

Let us remember that although there are theories, to explain job satisfaction, job satisfactionitself is related to anumber of employee variables like age, occupation, size of the organisation turnover, andabsenteeism etc.

ORGANBATIONAL COMMITMENT

In everyday use, the word commitment is used to mean the sense of being bound emotionally or

intellectually to some course of action. In the context of an organisation, a starting point is

provided by MOWDAY, PORTER, and STEERS' definition of oreganisational commitment,

which has 3 components as given below: -



1. A strong belief and acceptance of organisational goals and values.

2. A willingness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organisation.

3. A strong desire to maintain membership in the organisation.

Research in organisational commitment has been examined primarily in relation to employee

turnover. Other researchers have established a relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions and between organisational commitment and Job performance. Individuals who are

committed to the organisation are less likely to leave their jobs than those who are uncommitted.

Individuals who are committed to the organisation

tend to perform at a higher level and also tend to stay with the organisation, thus decreasingturnover andincreasing organisational effectiveness.HOW TO ENHANCE ORGANISATIONAL COMMITMENT?Research indicates that the following factors may enhance organisational commitment: -

1.High level of freedom or independence or autonomy.

2.Work tenure, length of service

3.Employee satisfaction with personal performance.

4.Perceived fair performance appraisals.

5.Challenging and interesting work

6.Resources and equipment those employees need to be effective on their jobs.

7.Investment in training and development

8.High quality supportive and friendly supervision.

9.High level of responsibility.10.Broad task design and teamwork.

11.High employee morale based on a climate of trust and cooperation

12.Effective reward management.

13.Effective channel of communication.

14.Part ownership for employees when possible.

15.Selection based on merit.

16.Career progress or job advancement.

17.Employee satisfaction derived from the non-work environment and activities, including health

and physical

conditions.18.Continuous review of employees' salaries to ensure that a fair and competitive pay isguaranteed by theorganisation at all times.FACTORS THAT INHIBIT EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT



1. Unclear and ambiguous roles.

2. The use of punishment by the superior.

3. Alternative employment available.

4. Tension on the job

5. A conviction that the organisation is uncaring about employee's welfare.

6. Unfair performance appraisal.

IMPLICATIONS FOR H.R. MANAGERS

Commitment denotes an action that is not only personal to the committed worker, but also to a

completely voluntary and rational action. Management cannot force it Neither can they hire a

consultant to initiate it The employee can also withdraw it if it is considered as no longer serving

a mutual purpose, for both the employee and management Since the committed employee almost

always expects something in return, the management of human resources should find ways of

reciprocating committed employees. If persistent decreases in commitment, resulting in low level

of commitment in-groups or experienced employees are found, managers will need to be aware

that low commitment norms may impact on new employees and will need advice on ways to

improve commitment levels. Managers concerned about both turnover and work performance

have to be aware of the need to apply a different set of policies in each case.

LESSON NO. 7

LEARNINGWHAT IT IS?According to Mcghee, Learning has taken place if an individual behaves, reacts, responds as aresult of experience in a manner different from the way he formerly behaved.

Learning is change in behaviour through education and training, practice and experience. It is

accompanied by acquisition of knowledge. Skills, and expertise which are relatively permanent.

Temporary changes may be only reflexive and fail to represent any learning. If reinforcement

does not accompany the practice or experiences, the temporary change in behaviour will

eventually disappear. It is reinforcement, which makes learning or change in behaviour enduring

by strengthening and intensifying certain aspects of an individual's behaviour.

Learning may be described as " the process of acquiring the ability to respond adequately to a

situation which may or may not have been previously encountered, the favourable modification

of response tendencies consequent on previous experience, particularly the building of a new

series of complex coordinated motor response, the fixation of times in memory so that they can



be recalled or organised., the process of acquiring insight into situation. Thus learning can be

defined as a relatively permanent change in behaviour as a result of prior experience.

NATURE OF LEARNING1. Learning involves a change, though not necessarily improvement, in

behaviour. Learning may be good or bad from an organisation point of view. For e.g., bad habits, prejudice,stereotypes and work restrictions may be learnt by individual.2. Change in behaviour must be relatively permanent. Temporary changes may be only reflexiveand fail torepresent any learning. Changes caused by fatigue or temporary adaptations are not covered inlearning.3. The change in behaviour should occur as a result of experience, practice or training. Thechange may not beevident until a situation arises in which the new behaviour can occur.4. The practice or experience must be reinforced in order for learning to occur. If reinforcement

does notaccompany the practice or experience, the behaviour will eventually disappear.5. Learning is reflected in behaviour. A change in an individual's thought process or attitudes,not accompanied by behaviour, is no learning.THEORIES OF LEARNINGThere are 4 theories, which explain how individuals learn new patterns of behaviour as shownthe diagram given below: -TYPES OF LEARNING1 CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

The classical behaviorists, particularly PAVLOV, and WATSON, attributed learning to theconnection betweenstimulus and response. (STIMULUS- ---> RESPONSE).2 OPERANT CONDITIONING

The operant behaviorists such as SKINNER described the role of consequences in understanding

the learning process. (RESPONSE ---> STIMULUS). Operant behaviour means voluntary or

learnt behaviour in contrast to reflexive or unlearnt behaviour.

3. COGNITIVE LEARNING

Cognitive theories felt that learning is achieved by thinking about the perceived relationship between events and individual goals . The process within the individual concerned with

receiving, and interpreting information make the individual learn new patterns of behaviour.

It is an integrative theory of learning, which explains that people learn through observation and

direct experience. Modeling is an social learning. People learn through observation and direct



experience. Social learning theory is a behavioral theory. It draws heavily from the classical and

operant conditioning concepts and even goes beyond that. The influence of models is central to

the social learning view point. The following processes determine the influence that a model will

have on an individual:-

1.Attentional process - People only learn from a model when they recognise and pay attention toits criticalfeatures. We tend to be most influenced by models that are attractive, repeatedly appearing,which we think areimportant or we see as similar to us.2. Retention process --- A model's influence will depend on how well the individual remembersthe model'saction, even after the model is no longer readily available.3. Motor Reproduction process -- After a person has seen a new behaviour by observing themodel, thewatching ,must be converted into doing. This process demonstrates that the individual can

perform the modeledactivities.4. Reinforcement process - Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modeled behaviour if positiveincentives or rewards are provided. Behaviours that are reinforced will be given more attention,learnt better, and performed often.RELATIONSHIP OF LEARNING WITH O.B.

Learning has direct impact on training activities- It can give insights into how best to develop

skills that the employee will need to perform effectively. The manager who undertakes to

produce changes in behaviour will teach employees to engage in behaviour that will help theorganisation achieve its objectives. When individuals are late for work, disobey orders or engage

in dysfunctional behaviour, the manager will attempt to teach functional behaviour. When the

employee is performing satisfactorily. Managers will give' the employee feedback and other

forms of rewards so as to strengthen the desirable behaviour.

Learning provides an explanation as to why employers prefer to hire people with job experience.This will resultin higher job performance.CLASSICAL CONDITIONING THEORY EXPLAINED

The classical behaviorists such as PAVLOV and WATSON attributed learning to the connection

between stimulus and response. This theory was explained by IVAN PAVLOV , who conducted

experiments to teach dog to salivate when a bell rang. He measured the quantity of saliva

secreted by a dog. When PAVLOV presented the dog with a piece of meat (unconditional

stimulus), it resulted in increase in salivation (unconditional response),On the other hand ,when

he merely rang a bell (natural stimulus), the dog had no salivation . Next PAVLOV linked the

meat and the ringing the bell. After doing this time ,PAVLOV rang the bell without meal. This



time, the dog salivated merely at the sound of the bell. even when no food was offered. What had

happened was that the dog had learnt to respond to the bell This classical conditioning has a

lasting impact on the understanding of learning Classical conditioning can be explained in

another way- Say, the association of cleaning the administration office of the plant with the visit

of a top official from headquarters Every time the top executive visited the plant, cleaning would

take place. This wanton for years. People had learnt to associate the cleaning of office with thevisit of top executive,

Classical conditioning is passive- It represents a small part of total human learning. It can onlyexplain simplereflexive behaviour. Something happens, and we react in a specific way But most human behaviour is voluntary,

rather than reflexive. Most human behaviour operates on the environment. The latter type of behaviour islearnt through OPERANT CONDITIONING.

OPERANT CONDITIONING THEORY EXPLAINED.

Operant is defined behaviour that produces effect. Operant conditioning is based on the work of

B.F.SKJNNER, who advocated that individuals emit responses that are rewarding and will not

emit response that are either not rewarded or are punished- Operant conditioning is voluntarily

learnt behaviour and it is determined, maintained and controlled by its consequences. In contrast

respondent behaviour is an involuntary or unlearned response to an environment stimulus.

Operant conditioning is based on the premise that behaviour is a function of consequences.

People learn to behave to get something they desire or to avoid something they do not like.

Behaviour is I likely to be repeated if consequences are unfavorable. Thus, the relationship between behaviour and consequences is the essence of operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is a powerful tool for managing people in organisations. Most behaviours

in organisations are learnt, controlled, and altered by consequences. If a manager wants to

influence behaviour, he must be able to manipulate the consequences. Thus, it can be concluded

that the behavioural consequences that are rewarding increase the rate of response, while the

adverse consequences decrease the rate of response.

COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY EXPLAINED

Cognition refers to an individual¶s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretations, understandingetc. about himself and his environment. Cognitive theory of learning assumes that the organism

learns the meaning of various objects and events and learned responses depends upon the

meaning assigned to stimuli. Cognitive theorists argue that the learner forms a cognitive structure

in memory, which preserves and organises information about the various events that occur in a

learning situation.



SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY EXPLAINED

Social learning is learning achieved through the reciprocal interaction between people,

behaviour, and their environment. Social learning theory integrates the cognitive and operant

approaches to learning. People learn through the observation and direct experience. Social

learning theory is a behavioural theory. It draws heavily from the classical and operantconditioning concepts and even goes beyond that. Through Modeling, people acquire behaviours

by directly observing and imitating others. When the manager or a coworker, who can be

models, demonstrate desirable behaviour, it can have major impact on a person's work efforts.

Many patterns of behaviour are learnt by watching the behaviour of models such as parents,

teachers, superiors, role models, film stars etc.

The influence of models is central to the social learning viewpoint. Social learning also takes place vial)Modeling, (also called as vicarious learning), 2) Symbolism, and 3) self-control.SHAPING BEHAVIOUR

In any organisation, managers are concerned with making the subordinates learn those behaviour

that are most beneficial to the organisation. When a manager moulds individuals by guiding their

learning in graduated steps, he is shaping behaviour.

A manager can shape behaviour by systematically reinforcing each successive step that moves

individuals closer to the desired response. If an employee who has been chronically late for work

comes say, in 20 minutes (as against his usual habit of coming 30 minutes late), the manager can

reinforce this behaviour so that it comes more close to the desired behaviour to the work on time.

STRATEGIES FOR REINFORCEMENT

Reinforcement is very important for learning to occur. Reinforcement increases the strength of

responses and tends to induce repetitions of the behaviour that preceded the reinforcement. Four

(4) types of reinforcement strategies can be employed by managers to influence the behaviour of

employees. These are;- 1) Positive reinforcement 2) Negative reinforcement 3) Extinction and 4)

Punishment.

POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT EXPLAINED

This strategy uses rewards that stimulate desired behaviour and strengthens the probability of

repeating such behaviour in the future. Positive reinforcers can be primary or secondary. Primaryreinforcers have direct beneficial consequences and include food, clothing and shelter.

Secondary reinforcers bring pleasure but have a variety of meanings for individuals such as

money, promotion and praise. Money is considered secondary because it is used to purchase

primary reinforcers. i.e., food.



Effective reinforcers must meet two conditions - First, the reward should be contingent upon the

performance. Second, the reward should match with the needs of the worker. Because positive

reinforcers differ among individuals. Managers must therefore either develop a reward system

that is appropriate for all the members of their workgroup or tailor their rewards to suit each

individual.

NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT EXPLAINED

This is also known as AVOIDANCE LEARNING. Negative reinfiorcers takes place when

individuals learn to avoid or escape from unpleasant consequences. Much lawful behaviour in

our society is based on avoidance learning. For e.g., people learn to drive carefully to avoid

accidents. In the workplace, avoidance learning usually occurs when peers or supervisors

criticize an individual's actions.

Negative reinforcement relies on avoidance of punishment or the threat of punishment. For

instance, we learn to watch for traffic when crossing streets, and we learn to bundle up on cold

days to avoid accidents and to protect ourselves from cold. However, punishment or threat of

punishment is not implied in any of these actions. In work environment, training, safety warning,

orientation sessions and counseling help alert employees against negative consequences of

undesirable behaviour. When coupled with positive reinforcement for appropriate behaviour, the

effect can be extremely useful.

EXTINCTION EXPLAINED

It is an effective method of controlling undesirable behaviour. It refers to non- reinforcement. It

is based on the principle that if a response is not reinforced, it will eventually disappear. The

absence of all forms of reinforcement is used to remove or extinguish undesirable behaviour. Adisruptive employee who, for e.g., picks fights and is apparently punished by the supervisor may

continue the disruptions because of the attention they bring. By ignoring or isolating the

disruptive employee, attention is withheld and possibly also the motivation for fighting.

PUNISHMENT EXPLAINED



Through punishment, managers try to correct improper behaviour of subordinates by providing

negative consequences. Giving harsh criticism, denying privileges, demoting, and reducing an

individual's freedom to do his or her job are common forms of punishment in the workplace.

Punishment is the historic method of reducing or eliminating undesirable behaviour. Sometimes,

punishment frustrates the punished and leads to antagonism towards the punishing manager or

supervisor. As a result, the effectiveness of the punishing agent diminishes over a period of time.Because of the possible dangers of punishment, it should be administered properly. The

following points in this regard deserve to be noted: -

1. The specific undesired behaviour, not the person, should be punished. If it is directed at the person, punishment will receive revenge.2. The punishment should be enough to extinguish the undesired behaviour. Under punishmentmay not deter the behaviour; over punishment may produce unrealistic results.3. Punishment should be administered privately By administering the punishment in front of

others, the worker is doubly punished in the sense that he loses face in the eyes of coworkers and the management.

4. Punishment should quickly follow the act- It is more effective when applied immediately after

the undesirable behaviour is produced. Further, punishment should follow every occurrence of

the undesirable behaviour.

5. Punishment is effective in modifying behaviour if it forces the person to select a desirable

behaviour that is reinforced. If this is not done, the undesirable behaviour tends to reappear

causing fear and anxiety in the person being punished.

6. Punishment must be administered carefully so that it does not become a reward for undesirable behaviour.SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT

Reinforcement always does not follow a particular response. For e.g., studying hard for

examinations sometimes yields high grades, and at other times, it may not be so- Another

example could be, sometimes-keeping top performance in one's job may result in high praise and

recognition, but it may not be always praised and recognised. Therefore one can say that

reinforcement follows certain definite rules. These rules are known as schedules of

reinforcement. The influence of schedules was systematically studied by B.F.SKINNER and co-

workers there are four (4) distinct schedules of reinforcement- they are as follows: -

IntervalRatioFixed IntervalFixed RatioVariable IntervalVariable Ratio



1. Fixed interval schedule

This schedule demands that a fixed amount of time have to elapse before reinforcement is

administered. In many organisations, monetary reinforcement comes at the end of a period of

time- Most workers are paid hourly, weekly or monthly for the time spent on their jobs- This

method offers the least motivation for hard work among workers because pay tied to timeinterval rather than actual performance. The occurrence of reinforcement depends largely on the

passage of time

2.Variable Time Schedule

The availability of reinforcement is also controlled mainly by the passage of time in a variable

interval schedule. In some cases, reinforcement can be obtained after a short period has passed.

In others, a much longer interval must elapse before it again becomes available. As a result of

such uncertainty, variable interval schedule of reinforcement yields moderate and steady rates of

response. Suppose a plant manager visits the Shop floor at 1100 hrs, everyday (fixed interval),

performance tends to be high just prior to his visit and thereafter it declines. Under variable

interval schedule, the manager visits at random intervals and none knows for sure when the

manager visits. As a result, performance tends to be higher and there would be less fluctuations

than under the fixed interval schedule

3.Fixed ratio scheduleIn this case, rewards are showered after a fixed or constant number of responses. For e.g., piecerate incentive plan is a fixed ratio schedule. It tends to produce high rate of response which is both vigorousand steady.

Workers try to produce as many as pieces as possible in order to pocket the monetary rewards.Therefore, theresponse level here is significantly higher than obtained under an interval schedule.4.Variable ratio schedule

When the reward varies relative to the behaviour of the individual, he is reinforced on a variable

ratio schedule. Salespersons on commission represent examples of individuals on such a

reinforcement schedule. On some occasions, they make a sale after only two calls on potential

customers. On other occasions, they might need to make twenty or more calls to secure a sale.

The reward then, is variable in relation to the members of successful calls the salesperson makes.

***********************



LESSON NO. 10ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE AND DESIGNA structure consists of 3 components, namely, 1) Complexity, 2) Formalisation, and3)Centralisation. Each of itis explained below:-

1. COMPLEXITY EXPLAINEDIt has 3 differentiations namely, a) The Horizontal Differentiation, b) The verticalDifferentiation, and c) TheSpatial Differentiation. Each of which is explained belowa) HORIZONTAL DIFFERENTIATION

Refers to the degree of differentiation between units based on the orientation of members, the

nature of the tasks they perform, and their education and training. The larger the number of

different operations within an organisation that require specialised knowledge and skills, the

more horizontally complex that organisation is, because diverse orientations make it more

difficult for organisational members to communicate and more difficult for managements to

coordinate their activities.

b) VERTICAL DIFFERENTIATION

Vertical Differentiation is the depth of the organisational hierarchy. When differentiation

increases, complexity increases as the number of hierarchical levels in the organisation increases.

The more levels are there between top management and operations. The greater the potential for

communication distortion, the more difficult it is to coordinate the decisions of the managerial

personnel and the more difficult it is

for top management to oversee closely the actions of operatives.

Vertical and Horizontal differentiation are not independent of one another. Vertical

differentiation may be viewed as a response to an increase in the Horizontal Differentiation. As

work is split into smaller parts, it becomes increasingly necessary to coordinate tasks.

c) SPATIAL DIFFERENTIATIONRefers to the degree to which the location of an organisation's facilities and personnel aregeographicallydispersed. The more that an organisation is differentiated along these dimensions, the morecomplex it is.2. FORMALISATION

It means the degree to which jobs within the organisation is highly formalised, then the job

incumbent has a minimum amount of discretion over that is to be done, and how it is to be done.

Employees in that case know how exactly to handle inputs and produce uniform output. The kind

of job that people are engaged in also helps and influences the degree of formalisation. Jobs in

the production area are most formalised, whereas those in the Sales area or R and D cannot be



made formal to the same degree, because production involves repetitive activities, but sales

department must be flexible in order to respond to changes in the market place and environment.

Similarly, research activity is made flexible if it has to be innovative.

3.CENTRALISATION

It refers to the degree to which decision making is concentrated at a single point in theorganisation. It includesformal authority. If the top management makes the organisation's key decisions with little inputfrom lower level personnel, then the organisation is centralised. On the other hand, the more the lower level personnel provide input, the more decentralised the organisation.FORCES DETERMINING AN ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTUREThe following forces have been identified as determinants of an organisation's structure: -1. SIZE

Size influences structure. As an organisation hires more operations, it will derive more economic benefits from specialisation. As a result. Horizontal differentiation will be increased, and so also

vertical differentiation to coordinate the horizontally differentiating units This expansion in size

will result in spatial differentiation. All these increases in complexity in top management's

abilities to supervise directly the activities within the organisation. Formal rules and regulations

will replace the control through direct surveillance. This increase in formalisation may be

accompanied by still greater vertical differentiation as management creates new units to

coordinate the expanding and diverse activities of organisation! members- Finally, as the top

management is further removed from the operating level, it becomes difficult for senior

executives to take quick decisions. The solution lies in substituting decentralised decision

making for Centralisation. There is a strong inverse relationship between size and centralisation.

In a small organisation it is possible for management to exercise control by keeping decisions

centralised. As size increases, management is physically unable to exercise control in the manner

and is forced to decentralise.

2. TECHNOLOGY

The word Technology has 2 roots, namely ,1) Techno, and 2)Logos. Technology consists of

skill of hand or techniques , whereas Logos stands for Knowledge. Technology has

1)Technoware , 2) Humanware , 3)Infoware. Technology is a body of particular type of

knowledge and relates to direct problem solving intervention . It consists of equipment's,

machines or tools ,sets of activities, methods or processes, arrangements or patterns. In other words, the technology refers to how an organisation transfers its inputs into outputs. Every

organisation has one or more technologies for converting financial, human, and physical

resources into productivity use.

Technology has certain general features., such as specialisation, integration, discontinuity, and

change. As technology increases specialisation also tends to increase. As work is split up into



smaller parts, integration is required to put them back together again to make a whole product, a

whole organisation, and a whole society. The integration is more difficult in a high technology

society than in a low technology society, because high technology tends to make the system

more complex and make its parts more interdependent. The technology revolution produces an

associated social revolution. Technology is moving so fast that it is creating social problems long

before society could develop solutions. At the plant level, new forms of organisation, new way

of supervision, new compensation structures, and many more changes are required to absorbtechnology.More mobility is needed to absorb technology.

As technology changes, jobs also change. Technology needs more professional, scientific and

other technical personnel to keep the system going. In most sophisticated plants the ratio of white

collar to blue collar employees has increased. Technology upgrades the skill and intellectual

inputs of the total workforce.

3. ENVIRONMENT

An organizations environment represents anything outside the organisation itself. The

environment is composed of these institutions or forces that affect the performance of the

organisation, but over which the organisation has little control. These include suppliers,

government regulatory agencies and so on.

Organisations must adapt to their environments if they are to succeed because organisations are

dependent on their environments if they are to survive. Changing environments produce

uncertainties if management cannot predict in what ways their environments are moving. By

changing the organisation's structure the management can change environmental uncertainty

Formalisation and environmental uncertainty are inversely related. Stable and certainenvironments lead to highformalisation because stable environments create a minimal need for rapid response.

The environment also affects centralisation. If the environment is large and multi-faceted, it

becomes difficult for management to monitor. As a result, the structure become decentralized. It

is for this reason the marketing function in organisations is decentralized. Decentralization

allows for more rapid response.

4. POWER CONTROL

Size , technology ,and environment cannot explain filly an organisation's structure. Power and

politics can explain why an organisation¶s is what it is. Power control explanation states an

organisation's structure is the result of a power struggle by internal constituents who are seeking

to future their interests. Like all decision is organisations, the structural decision is not fully

rational. Managers do not necessarily choose that alternative that will maximise the



organisation¶s interest. There is much room for the decision -maker to manoeuver. The power

control position argues that those in power will choose a structure that will maintain their

control.

LESSON NO. 11

POWER, AUTHORITY, AND CONTROL MECHANISMPOWER

Power is the ability to influence other's behaviour. Power, from an organisation's point of view,

is the degree of influence an individual has in decision making, without being authorised by the

organisations to do so. Therefore, power is extra-organisational in nature. For E.g., in political

organisations, a close relative of a high up may influence decisions of that high up without

having any sanction from the organisation.

Power is not only one's influence over decision-making, but also it limits the scope of actualdecision making

TYPES OF POWER This is also known as Bases of power or springs from which power flows.1. THE LEGITIMATE POWER

This is positive power or official power. It comes from the rules of the organisation. It gives

leaders the power to control resources and to reward and punish others. People accept this power

because they believe it is desirable and necessary to maintain order and discipline in a society.

2. CHARISMATIC POWER

This is the power of attraction and devotion, the desire of one person to admire another person.

The leaders have a personal magnetism, an air of confidence and a belief in objectives. Joan of

Arc, Mahatma Gandhi, and Subhash Chandra Bose are examples.

3. EXPERT POWER

This is also known as the authority of knowledge, which comes as a result of one's specialised

learning. This is the power of knowledge and skill of special kind that are important in getting

the job done. A person's professional competence or knowledge gives him the expert power- His

credibility increases. He can lead other persons to trust his judgement and decisions.

4. REWARD POWER

This comes from authority. The leader has the power to give tangible rewards such as promotion,

attractive work assignments, psychological rewards etc. The subordinate has to believe that he

has access to higher authorities . This reward power can also increase the leader's charismatic

and legitimate power.

5.COERCIVE POWER



This power comes from authority. It is the ability to threaten or punish. The leader can give

tangible punishments like dismissals, demotion, low rating etc. Self-esteem of a subordinate

increases because of reward power and decreases because of punishment or coercive power.

6.POLITICAL POWER

It arises from a leader's ability to work with people and social systems to gain allegiance and

support. It develops in all organisations. There are a number of tactics that leaders can use to

gain political power. For e.g., if you do something for me, I will do something for you. It relies

on the norm of reciprocity in society where two persons in a continuing relationship feels a

strong obligation to repay their social debts. When these trade- off are successful, both parties

get something they want.

AUTHORITY

MAX WEBER defines authority, as the willing and unconditional compliance of people, resting

upon their belief that it is legitimate for superior to impose his will on them and illegitimate for

them to refuse to obey. It can be defined as legitimate right to give orders and get orders obeyed.

CHARACTERISTICS OF AUTHORITY

1. There is existence of RIGHT in authority

2. The RIGHT of giving order is legitimate

3. Authority gives a right to decision making.

4. A person with authority influences the behaviour of others that might otherwise not take place.

5. Exercising authority is subjective.

SOURCES OF AUTHORITYThere are 3 theories, namely, the Formal Authority Theory, the Acceptance Theory, and theCompetenceTheory. Let us discuss each of them-1. FORMAL AUTHORITY THEORY

Authority does not vest in a managerial position. It is delegated from the top management. For

e.g., a supervisor in production department gets authority from the production manager, a CEO

gets from the Board of Directors or owners. In the Indian situation of public limited companies,

owners have some limitations of authority. Similarly , a manager has limited authority delegated

by his superior.

2. ACCEPTANCE THEORY

The essence of this theory is that people differ in the degree of effort they contribute to achieve

the objectives of the organisation. The degree of effective authority possessed by the manager is

measured by the willingness of subordinates to accept it- There are numerous problems in this

theory. A manager will not know whether the



subordinate will accept the order. For e.g., For a manger to be successful, he needs bothleadership andauthority.3. COMPETENCE THEORY

There is a feeling that authority is generated by personal competencies. URWICK identifiesformal authority as being conferred by organisation, technical authority as being implicit in

special knowledge or skill and personal authority as being conferred by seniority or popularity.

LIMITATIONS OF AUTHORITYIn an organisation, the quantum of authority decreases at successively lower levels. K ismaximum at the highestlevel, and minimum at the lowest level. The authority is not absolute. It is subject to varioussocial, legal, political, and economic factors. Similarly, the use of authority by a superior over his subordinateis restricted by

various factors.Limits of authority at various level in an organisation

Highest LevelLowest LevelDIFFERENCESBETWEEN POWER AND AUTHORITY

Both power and authority, no doubt, has the objective of influencing the behaviour of others, but

they are not synonymous . Power is q question of one's capability to exert influence in getting the

desired result. Power has no legal sanctity, while authority does. Both have different mount of

legitimacy. Authority is institution and legitimate, while power is personal and carries littlelegitimacy. Authority is delegated by higher management, while power is earned and gained by

leaders on the basis of their leadership and personality, activities, and in situations

HOW TO CONTROL O.B.?



Organisations are primarily people oriented. Through people, organisations achieve their

established and predetermined goals. Organisations regulate the behaviour of their people

through the process of control. There is a distinction between CONTROL and CONTROLS. The

latter is not simply the plural of the former. CONTROL is normative in approach, whereas

CONTROLS deals with measurement, information, analysis and operation. CONTROL sets the

direction, deals with the expectations of behaviour and performance. CONTROLS are a means toachieve CONTROL at the end. CONTROL is the process of bringing congruence of

he gap between the desired and actual state of things in the organisation. It can be taken at anystage -individual level, group level or organisational level.WHY CONTROL?

While it is true that in natural social units like a family or community, there is in-built control

mechanism, and, therefore, members fulfil their obligations by carrying on the activities of the

units. In organisations, just because there is a structure of roles, responsibilities, and relation

ships they do not automatically contribute to organisational objectives. The organisations must

devise ways and means to achieve conformity of behaviour to certain specified standards.

PRE REQUISITES OF CONTROL

1. Control should bring about set performance.

2. Therefore, establish a performance standard

3. Communicate the standard to all concerned both orally and in writing.

4. Establish reward and reinforcement systems to support the compliance of behaviour.

5. Study the organisational needs, and try to bring about a fit between the two needs of organisation and theindividual.MEANS OF CONTROL

According to A.ETZIONI, who has authored the book - MODERN ORGANISATIONS, 1964,

an organisation can apply 3 types of sanctions for controlling behaviour. Sanctions are a kind of

rewards and penalties, which can be applied on individuals or groups to induce people to

conform to norms. The 3 types of sanctions are as follows.

1. PHYSICAL SANCTIONS

This is a kind of coercive power, which includes inflicting pain, restricting movement etc. This is

generally applied at lower levels of employees because they are not largely self motivated. Such

people will have to be coerced to move towards corporate goals. For e.g., dismissals,

suspensions, demotion etc.

2. MATERIAL SANCTIONS



These are just the opposite of physical sanctions. These are based on the control and allocation of

material resources and rewards. People perceive benefits when material sanctions are applied,

and, therefore, conform to the expected behaviour. These type of sanctions are common in most

of the organisations. Carrot-and-stick policy in organisations, role of money, and other material

awards and rewards at the lower level of employees become more important.

3. SYMBOLIC SANCTIONS

These sanctions are not a threat to the employees. There is no claim on material rewards too. But,

symbolic sanctions are quite important for those who receive them. These are applied at higher

levels of employees who get psychological satisfaction. Such symbols may be normative like

prestige and esteem, love and acceptance etc.

REMEMBER the use of various sanctions is determined by the possession of power andauthority, which areinfluencing factors in controlling behaviour. Modem organisations do not like to employ

sanctions for

controlling behaviour.They employ proper leadership, communication, and organisationalclimate.POWER DISTANCE

People are different from one another because of variations in the physical, mental and

intellectual capabilities. This in turn creates differences in wealth and power. According to

HOFSTEDE, who used the term POWER DISTANCE, in societies the inequalities in power and

wealth can be measured to the extent to which a society accepts the fact that power and wealth is

unequally distributed. A high power distance society accepts large and wide differences in

institutions and organisations. Employees show a great deal of respect for those in authority.

Designations, ranks and status carry weight. When negotiating in certain countries (where high

power distance is a means to get things done specially) organisations find it negotiable if they

send their representatives having status with those having similar status and recognition. India is

one country where there is high power distance. Examples of DENMARK, AUSTRIA can be

cited where there is low power distance.

In simple language, POWER DISTANCE means "WILLING ACCEPTANCE OF UNEQUALPOWER".

LESSON NO. 12



MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICT OR CONFLICT IN ORGANISATION

INTRODUCTION

Conflict is a basic fact of life in groups and organisations. The raison d' etre for conflicts to arise

is the emergence of organisations. First of all, organisations are people oriented. These peoplehave different personalities and psyches, and so are their perceptions, and values. Next, the

assignments of jobs have contrasting characteristics, there is some inequality in status, and

competition takes place. Finally, organisations have scare resources even for which to get

possession, competition occurs. Thus, one can say with all the authority under one's belt,

conflicts are unavoidable in organisations. Wherever there is social interaction and social

interdependence conflicts are bound to arise, and it is just natural. However, only some conflicts

are beneficial, while others are not beneficial to organisations. A manager must understand such

situations of conflict, and deal with it appropriately. The whole idea is to manage conflicts in

such a way so as to achieve both individual and organisational goals. The point to be emphasised

is that social conflict,

both good and bad, is normal and a recurring phenomenon of our social system.

MEANING OF CONFLICT

We must, first of all, understand that conflict occurs in various situations \ background \ settings.

It is generally understood as a kind of controversy, clash, strife etc.. Generally speaking, conflict

appears to be a disagreement, contradiction, and incompatibility.

According to VSP RAO, and PS NARAYANA -

Authors of ORGANISATION THEORY AND BEHAVIOUR, Published by VIKASPUBLISHING HOUSE P.LTD. ' CONFLICT IS A PROCESS IN WHICH AN EFFORT IS

PURPOSEFULLY MADE BY ONE PERSON OR UNIT TO BLOCK ANOTHER THAT

RESULTS IN FRUSTRATING THE ATTAINMENT OF HIS OR HER INTERESTS".

FEATURES OF CONFLICT1. When 2 or more parties pursue mutually incompatible goals, conflicts arise.2. If 2 parties or more have perspectives differing from one another, conflicts occur. In other words, perceptions differ.3. Sometimes, deliberate behaviour also brings about conflict.4. Conflicts could be hidden or surface up

Conflicts and competition are not one and the same. In a conflict, one side interferes with the other's

opportunity to acquire resources or perform activities. In competition, both sides try to win, but

neither side actively interferes with the other.

VIEWS ON CONFLICTThere are 3 Schools of Thought on Conflict. They are 1) Classical, 2) Behavioural, and 3) Inter-actionist.



According to the Classical School, conflict if found in organisations is an abnormality, and it will

prove to be a dangerous process. Conflict induces mainly negative outcomes such as, anger,

confusion, lack of cooperation etc.

The Behavioural school is of the view that Conflict is harmful, and it must be avoided at all

costs. Those who generate conflict are trouble makers and were bad for the organisation.However, even this school of Thought viewed that conflicts are natural occurrences in

organisations.

The Inter - actionist school of thought views that in some cases, conflicts are helpful, facilitative,

and functional- Conflict is not an organisational abnormality. On the other hand, it is a normal

feature of social intercourse. It is a fact of life that must be understood, rather than fought. This

School further says that conflict is neither good nor bad for organisations. Even the so-called

perfect organisations also come across conflicting situations. This school is of the view that

conflict is not only inevitable, but also desirable. If there is no conflict, there is no change, and

no innovation. That means organisations are apathetic and static, both of which are detrimental.

POSITIVE CONCEQUENCES OF CONFLICT1. Conflicts are major catalysts and activators of change in organisations. When there is conflict,the effort of organisations would be diverted to look for and search for new solutions.2. Sometimes, groups present consensus decisions, which are not necessarily optimal, rational. If conflicts arefound there, then the whole course of decision may change to be in favour of organisations,3. Conflict arouses interest and curiosity- When there is an open disagreement, people tend to putforwardimaginative solutions. Conflicts also help people to learn and develop themselves.

4. When we observe inter group conflict and competition, chances are that the groups are brought

closer together, instead of deviating from one another. In many situations, if these groups have to

face a common enemy, then organisational groups show up with internal unity.

5. Conflict is necessary to organisational life. It helps balance power relationships betweendepartments. NEGATIVE CONSEQUENCES OF CONFLICT1. Any conflict for that matter builds stress in people. Losers feel alienated. A climate of mistrustand suspicion

develops.

2. When there is conflict, we also observe diversion of energy. All the efforts wilt be directed

towards winning the conflict, rather than move towards accomplishment of corporate goals.

Narrow interests prevail. Long term goals are forgotten.

3. When there is intense conflict, people shy away from active collaboration, resulting in tension build up, and



communication breakdowns.CONFLICT AS A SERIES OF STAGES



L.R.PONDY, in his article - ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT: CONCEPTS AND MODELS,

published in the ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY, VOL.12, 1967, outlines

conflict in various stages namely, LATENT CONFLICT, PERCEIVED CONFLICT, FELT

CONFLICT, and CONFLICT AFTERMATH. He advocates that conflict to be understood as a

dynamic process, thus indicating a series of events. It can be diagrammatically shown as under: -

Now, the explanation of the above diagram.1. LATENT CONFLICT

Each episode begins with a latent conflict. The sources are within the organisation. Competition

for scarce resources, for positions in the organisation, role conflict etc. However, it has not

surfaced up. The conflict is hidden. These are the antecedent conditions for conflicts to come on

surface. So, there is anticipation of conflict.

2. PERCEIVED CONFLICT Here, basic sources such as those listed in the patent conflict arenot there. Conflicts arise in this stage, purely due to misunderstanding, which can be improved by improving the communication between the parties differing in perception3. FELT CONFLICTThis arises as a result of disagreement over interpretation. In this stage, conflict will not ariseunless thedifferences become personalized or internalized.



4. MANIFEST CONFLICTThis is the stage for open confrontation. There could be the negative consequences such as openaggression,sabotage, apathy, withdrawal - all leading towards organisational ineffectiveness.5. CONFLICT AFTERMATH

The aftermath of a conflict could be either positive or negative depending upon how the conflict

is resolved. If it is genuinely resolved, it can lead to a more enduring and cooperative

relationship between organisational participants. If, on the other hand, a conflict is merely

suppressed but not resolved, the latent conditions of conflict may be aggravated, and explode in

more violent and serious forms. This legacy is called as CONFLICT AFTERMATH

ANALYSING CONFLICTAccording to VSP RAO and PS NARAYANA, authors of ORGANISATIONAL THEORYANDBEHAVIOUR, a conflict could be analysed as under. A Diagrammatic sketch is given below: -

.

.INTER INTRAINTER

INTRAINTER INTRAINDIVIDUAL LEVEL CONFLICTUnder this, we cover two levels - 1) Inter individual conflict, and 2) Intra individual conflict-Intra individual conflict is internal to the person and it is quite difficult to analyse. Every one of us has some



needs. To fulfil these needs, we join organisations. If needs are not fulfilled, then frustration begins, and leads to

negative behaviour, which, in turn, will affect job performance. If the individual goals and

organisational goals are not integrated then, there is incongruity, in which case an individual

faces a conflict within himself. He faces dilemmaic situations. Basically, Intra individual conflictarises due to divergent goals, or arising from out of multiple roles to be played daily.

Sometimes, an individual faces goal conflict, and role conflict. Goal conflict arises when an

individual faces a goal, which has both positive and negative features or when 2 or more

competing goals exist. Goal conflict has got 3 types, each of which is explained below

1.APPROACH-APPROACH CONFLICTA person wants two positive situations, but can have only one. The person might be torn betweentwo lucrative

jobs.2. APPROACH-AVOIDANCE CONFLICT

In this form of goal conflict, the person wants to achieve a goal that has both positive and

negative aspects. For e.g., a marketing executive may get enhanced status in an unpleasant

station of posting. A student may work hard to get a top position in an examination, but it is

accompanied by several sacrifices.

3. AVOIDANCE-AVOIDANCE CONFLICTHere, a person is faced with2 negative goals. He may not choose either of them. He may simplyleave themsituation. For e.g., a person may dislike his job, but he has no alternate job.

Now coming to the role conflict, it is the result of divergent role expected of a person on the job.

A role is a set of expectations people have about the behaviour of a person in a position. An

individual occupies many different position s in a variety of organisations and perform multiple

roles. Professors may be teachers, researchers, consultants, community leaders etc. A supervisor

is a link between top management and lower level employees. He has to manage people

reporting to him, and he is himself managed by his superior. Thus, he has multiple roles to

perform. In such situations, role conflicts arise.

Role ambiguity is another feature. Ambiguity is said to occur when an individual is not too sureof his duties and responsibilities. As a result, he is not able to enact the role. When employees

are not clear about their duties and responsibilities, job performance is affected.

Role conflict results in psychological stress leading to emotional problems.



In order to resolve role conflict, participative management techniques help. Persuasion can also

help to bring subordinate's goals nearer to organisational goals. However, it must be remembered

that role conflict cannot be planned away.

INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT

As the heading itself suggests, it is between one person and the other, one department and the

other. Each person is pressurising to acquire some scarce resources. Interpersonal conflicts arise

due to personality differences, different perceptions, changing values and interests, differences in

power and status, and when resources are scarce.

INTERGROUP CONFLICT

Most of the departments in the organisations compete for allocation of scarce resources and

power. Inter group conflicts over authority and jurisdiction are also quite common. Sources of

Inter group conflict are 1) Incompatible goals, 2) Task interdependence, 3) Resource allocation,

4)Competitive incentives and rewards, and 5) Line and staff conflicts, 6)Differences in

perception and values, and finally, 7) Heterogeneity of members.

INTRA ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT Normally, within an organisation, 3 kinds of strains can be seen and experienced. They are 1)The Horizontalstrain, 2) The Vertical strain, and 3) The line and staff conflict.,

The horizontal strain refers to conflict between employees or departments at the same

hierarchical level in an organisation. Sometimes, when one department is interdependent

functionally on another dependent, any breakdown in the performance of one may affect the performance of the other, in which case the strain is bound to occur.

The vertical strain occurs as a result of superior-subordinate relations going awry. This may bedue to inadequatecommunication, and a lack of shared perceptions of members at various levels.

The Line and staff conflict is inherent in the very concept itself. The concept says that various

functions could be split into 2 categories, namely, hierarchical, and nonhierarchical. Line

manager's look down upon staff specialists. They consider the latter to be impediments. The staff

specialists complain that the line managers don't heed to their advice, and will use their services

as a last resort. Line managers hold the view that staff specialists oversteps its authority. Thereare many other differences between these two structures, such as line managers resent new ideas,

and they do not support and implement even the best of ideas offered by the staff specialists.

INTER ORGANISATIONAL CONFLICT

The bases of inter group conflict are essentially the same as for inter organisational conflict.

They are 1) Incompatible objectives and 2) conflicts over status, prestige and money. However,



inter organisational conflict is more extensive, more diffuse than the conflict of persons or

groups.

When one organisation is in conflict with another organisation. It helps both the organisations in4 ways: -

1. Individuals join together under a common bond to fight for values dear to their organisation.2. Objectives and values change to that extent so as to fight out the organisation that is in conflictwith our

organisation.

3. Making organisational members aware of the strategy and tactics of the antagonist.

4. It acts as an agency of social control.

When do we say that two organisations are in conflict? There are 3 conditions, which explainsthe abovefeatures. They are as under-

1. Each of the organisations must be present in the image of the responsible decision maker of the

other. Simply stated, if one organisation does not know the other organisation, a conflict cannot

exist until each tries to know the other.

2. A decision on the part of one organisation must affect the other organisation significantly.Two organisations,which are not in competition, cannot be in conflict.3. Whenever two organisations are expanding into a common field, so that possession of part of the field byone excludes the other, conflict is possible.

MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICT

There are 2 types of conflict, namely, 1) Constructive, and 2) Destructive. There is enormous

disagreement over the consequential effects of conflict on the social system. One school of

thought seems to view conflict as undesirable since it inevitably leads to disruption of the social

system. An opposite view considers social conflict essential to the effective functioning of every

social system. In fact, neither view is absolutely accurate. Some conflict and deviance disrupts

the system, and other instances of conflict and deviance are beneficial to the system.

Discriminating between the two, however, is no simple task.

Social conflict also aids group cohesiveness by providing an outlet for hostility. If it does not,then the group members will become apathetic or drop out of group membership. As group

members shed their inhibitions about expressing negative feelings, they develop stronger ties to

their group membership. A group whose members continuously argue over ideas and issues can

be very productive.



According to SAMUEL DEEP - Author of HUMAN RELATIONS IN MANAGEMENT,

published by GLENCOE PUBLISHING CO., CALIF. 1978, P.212, constructive and destructive

conflicts can be identified with the help of following table

CONSTRACTIVE CONFLICT WHEN

DESTRUCTIVE CONFLICT WHEN1. Problems are brought out, identified and

clarified.

2. Group think is avoided.

3. Creativity is promoted.

4. More taught goes into ideas. Individualeffort is estimulated.

5. Encourage group cohesiveness and provides for a system of checks and balances within

organisation.

Too much stress is created for individual.

Group decision making becomes week.

Cooperation is replaced by infighting

Focus on short range goes at the cost of long range goals.

Goals are distorted and resolution of conflict is viewed asWIN-LOSE, rather than as WIN-WIN.There are 2 ways to deal with conflict in an effective way. They are - to create and stimulateconstructiveconflict, and to resolve destructive conflict.CONFLICT STIMULATION TECHNIQUE

We must realise that conflict is not always negative. Its positive features are very many, on

which one has to lay stress. Man looks for challenges both as an individual, and as part of a

social group. If there is no novelty, there is no gain. A manager must determine the optimal level

of conflict stimulation, rather than attempt at minimum conflict. When to stimulate situations in

which conflict is too low generally involve people who are afraid to "ROCK THE BOAT", as the

proverb goes. They passively accept things the way they are. There is too much lethargy, lack of

disagreement as group members tolerate each other's weaknesses. If managers are surrounded bysycophants and "YES" men, and managers believe in maintaining peace, cooperation at all costs.

And always work for consensus decisions, lack of new ideas and employees show high

resistance to change them, we have to presume that all such situations require stimulation of

conflict.

According to S.P.ROBBINS, author of "CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND CONFLICTRESOLUTION,



communication among group members stimulate conflict. Ambiguous or threatening messagesencourages

Rumours, if plantedvintellugenly, also help in stimulating conflict. Secondly,

disturbing the status quo of organisations by bringing outsiders also helps. Thirdly, restructuring

the organisation so that new entrants or responsibilities will create uncertainty is also a way tostimulate conflict. Fourthly, encourage competition.

TECHNIQUES OF CONFLICT RESOLUTIONFollowing are some of the frequently employed techniques:-1. DOMINANCE THROUGH POSITION

He simplest technique is, of course, elimination of other party. That is to say, to force the

opponent to give up fighting. Conflicting parties are told to maintain calmness and composure,

an appearance of grace and drop the fight. Groups are not allowed to interact with each other.

However, it should be noted that it is not always possible to effectively resolve interdepartmental

conflicts through dominance or use

of positional authority.2 APPEALS PROCEDUREThis is a conventional method. It is the people in disagreement who approach higher authority tohelp themarrive at a solution.3. LIAISON GROUPS / INTERMEDIARIESIt is possible to reduce interdepartmental conflicts by setting up special liaisons between theconflictingdepartments. Sometimes, outside consultant are brought to act as arbitrators.

4. MEMBER ROTATION

By rotating members between interdependent departments creates an atmosphere where the new

comer can exchange his views with others. Role reversal or empathy helps them in removing

misunderstandings and thus reduce conflict.

5. REDUCE INTERDEPENDENCE

Where 2 departments have to work in an interdependent fashion and share scarce resources, there

is potential for conflict. In this situation, interdependence will have to be reduced. But how this

can be achieved? Departments be provided with resources and inventories that are independentof those provided for other departments, but this is expensive. Sometimes, formal integration can

be achieved to facilitate coordination and smooth workflow.

6. SUPERORDINATE GOALS



Superordinate goals are goals common to all the parties and hence pooling of resources are

required. Superordinate goals demand interdependence and cooperation between departments. I n

that case, opposing parties work together harmoniously to achieve the common purpose.

7. IDENTIFYING A COMMON ENEMY

" A STRONG ENEMY IS A UNIFYING FORCE" is the principle underlying this method of

resolving conflict. When there is a common threat and overriding common purpose of victory or

survival, then the opposing parties forget their differences and join hands to combat the situation.

THOMPSON'S APPROACH TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION

There are 5 styles as given in the following diagram. They are - 1) Competing, 2) Collaborating,

3) Avoiding, 4) Accommodating and 5) Compromising.. Under Assertive style. Competing and

collaborating techniques are included, while under Non-assertive style. Avoiding and

Accommodating are included. In between these two classifications lie compromising.

There are 5 styles as given in the following diagram. They are - 1) Competing, 2) Collaborating,

3) Avoiding, 4) Accommodating and 5) Compromising.. Under Assertive style. Competing and

collaborating techniques are included, while under Non-assertive style. Avoiding and

Accommodating are included. In between these two classifications lie compromising.

COMPETING .. This is power-oriented, and relies on punishment, fights, arguments.COLLABORATING .. This is WIN-WIN style. There is open sharing of information, andlistening. Allalternatives are considered. Both parties get benefit of a permanent nature.

AVOIDING.. This style brings about withdrawal, indifference, apathy, and detachment.ACCOMODATING .. In this style, parties are generous, and self-sacrificing. Emphasis is oncommon interests.Deemphasis on differences.COMPROMISING.. This style is traditional. Nobody wins. There is give- and- take in this style.That is,LOSE-LOSE style.Five style of Conflict ManagementConflict-Hand,StyleAppropriate ConditionsCompeting1. When quick, decisive action is vital ( e.g. emergencies.)2. On important issues when unpopular actions need implementing (cost cutting, enforcing

unpopular rules, discipline).

3. On issues vital to company welfare when you know you are right.

4. Against people who lake advantage of noncompetitive behavior.



Collaborating1. To find an integrative solution when both sets of concerns ore too important to becompromised.2 . When your objective is to learn.

-3. To merge insight* from people with different perspectives.

4. To gain commitment by incorporating concerns into a consensus.

5. To work through feelings that hove interfered with a relationship.

Compromising1. When goats ore important but not worm m" effort or potential disruption of more assertive

modes.

2. When opponents with equal power are committed to mutually exclusive goals.

3. To achieve temporary settlements to complex issues.

4. To arrive at expedient solutions under time pressure.5. As o backup when collaboration or competition is unsuccessful.

PROF. K.V. MURTHY59CompetingCollaboratingAvoidingAccommodatingCompromising

Avoiding

1. When an issue is trivial or more important issue are pressing.

2. When you perceive no chance of satisfying your concerns.

3. When potential disruption outweighs m benefits of resolution.

4. To let people cool down and regain perspective.

5. When gathering information supersedes immediate decision.

6. When others can resolve the conflict more effectively.

7. When issues seem tangential or symptomatic or other issues.

Accommodating1. When you find you ore wrong-to allow a better position to be heard, to learn,and to showyour reasonableness.2. When issues are more important to others than to yourself-to satisfy others and maintain

cooperation.

3. 16 build social credits for later issues.



4. To minimize loss when you ore outmatched and losing.

5. When harmony and stability ore especially important.

6. To allow employee to develop by learning from mistakes.

LESSON NO. 13

ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE AND CULTURE(This lesson is being dealt with under 2 parts. The first part deals with the CLIMATE, while thesecond partdeals with the CULTURE)PART ONE: ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATEINTRODUCTION

Organisational climate is a set of characteristics that describe an organisation and that

distinguishes one organisation from another, and are relatively enduring over a period of time

and influence the behaviour of people in the organisations. It is the summary perception which

people have about the organisation. Thus, it is the global expression of what is organisation is.

Organisation climate is thus, THE MANIFESTATION OF ATTITUDES OF

ORGANISATIONAL MEMBERS TOWARD THE ORGANISATION ITSELF. An

organisation tends to attract and keep people who fit its climate, so that its pattern is perpetuated

atleast to some extent. Organisation climate is a very important factor to be considered in

studying and analysing organisations because it has a profound influence on the outlook, well

being and attitudes of organisational members and thus on their total performance. It affects the

behaviour of the people in 3 ways as under:-

1. Defining the stimuli that confront the individual.

2. Placing constraints upon the individual's freedom of choice3. Providing source of reward and punishment.

Organisational climate thus provides a useful platform for understanding each characteristics of organisations,such as stability, creativity, and innovation, communication and effectiveness etc.

Organisational climate should be viewed from total system's point of view. There may exist

different climates within different departments in the organisation and the se sub climates will be

integrated to form the organisation climate.

FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE

In every organisation, there exist certain elements which exercise influences on the existingclimate. These are:-

1. Organisation structure.

2. Organisation context.

3. Physical environment



4. Process

5. System values and norms

Let us study each of the above in some detail: -1. Organisation Structure

Structure is a framework that establishes formal relationships and delineate authority and

functional responsibility. The actual arrangement of hierarchy affects the climate. Highly

decentralised structure results in sound climate when the management feels the necessity of high

degree of inputs to the total output. In a sharp

contrast, if the management feels the necessity of maintaining greater degree of consistency in

operations regarding decision making, it will follow decentralised nature and structure. THUS

STRUCTURE AFFECTS CLIMATE.

2. Organisational Context

If the company is wedded to such a policy, then it is effectively utilising the resources - both

human and non- human. In that case, one can say that the climate is good. The manpower

philosophy is generally expressed by rules, regulations and policies etc. The point is that the

reactions of the employees and the degree to which they welcome and accept the managerial

philosophy is very critical to the development of sound and favourable organisational climate.

The climate is said to be highly favourable wen the existing management techniques are such

that the employee's goals are perfectly matched to the ideals of organisation.

3. Physical Environment

It includes the external conditions of environment, the size and location of the building in which

am employee works, the size of place, the size of city - all these affect the organisational climate.

Office decor, size and space a person has in doing the work are important factors to be borne in

mind as they affect climate. High level of noise brings a bad feeling and leads to frustration,

nervousness. And aggression and will have a negative effect on the organisational climate.

An employee performing his job in a relatively clean, quiet, and safeenvironment will have a favourable perception of organisational climate.4. Process

There are so many elements of the process which an organisation follows to achieve itsobjectives. The elements include communication, decision making, innovation and leadership. In

all these processes the relationship between superior and subordinate is visible and therefore the

superior cannot afford to ignore this visible interface.

A leader has to be aware of the possible influence of his actions on the climate when deciding

about the most appropriate control and supervision technique for a given situation. When a



leader mismatches his style to the situation it might abort any hope of attaining organisational

objectives.

5. System values and norms

Every organisation has a formal value system where certain kinds of behaviours are rewardedand encouraged and certain kinds of behaviour forces an individual to formal sanctions. The

formal value system is communicated to employees through rules, regulations and policies. From

the organisational point of view, both formal and informal groups are very powerful in

exercising influence on climate.

WHAT CONSTITUTES A FAVOURABLE CLIMATE?

Climate can range along a continuum from favourable to neutral to unfavourable. Both

employees and employers want a more favourable climate, because of its benefits, such as better

performance and job satisfaction.

The typical elements which contribute to make a climate favourable are given below: -1. Quality of leadership.2. Amount of trust.

3. Communication, both upward and downward.

4. Feeling of useful work.

5. Responsibility

6. Fair rewards

7. Reasonable job pressures

8. Opportunity9. Reasonable controls, structure and bureaucracy

10. Employee involvement, and participation.

Employee feels that the climate is favourable when they are doing some thing useful that

provides a sense of personal worth. They frequently want challenging work that provides

intrinsic satisfaction. Many employees also want responsibility. They want to be listened to and

treated as if they have value as individuals. They want to feel that the organisation really cares

about their needs and problems.

PART II NOW. PART TWO: ORGANISATIONAL CULTUREINTRODUCTION



Organisational culture represents common perception shared by members of an organisation.

Individuals with altogether different background or at different levels in the organisation have a

tendency to describe the organisation culture in almost similar terms.

According to CAMPBELL, IT IS CONCERNED WITH HOWEMPLOYEES PERCEIVE THE

SIX BASIC CHARACTERISTICS, NAMELY, THE INDIVIDUAL, AUTONOMY,STRUCTURE, REWARD, CONSIDERATION AND CONFLICT.

Organisation culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members, which distinguishes

one organisation from another organisation. Organisation culture is always unique and distinct.

That is how one can distinguish one organisation from another.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISATIONAL CULTUREFollowing are the characteristics, which can be called as the essence of culture:-

1. Member identity

2. People focus

3. Group emphasis

4. Control

5. Unit integration.

6. Risk tolerance

7. Reward criteria

8. Means-ends orientation

9.Conflict tolerance10. Open system focus.

Now, each of the above is discussed in some detail:-Member Identity: The degrees to which employees identify with the organisation as a whole,

rather than

with their type of job or field of professional expertise.2. People focus: The degree to which management decisions take into consideration to effectoutcomes on people with the organisation.3. Group emphasis: The degree to which work activities are organised around groups rather thanindividuals.4. Controls: The degree to which rules, regulation and direct supervision are used to oversee and

controlemployee behaviour.5. Unit Integration: The degree to which units within the organisation are encouraged to operatein a coordinated

or interdependent manner.

6. Risk Tolerance: The degree to which employees are encouraged to be aggressive, innovative

and risk taking.



7. Reward criteria: The degree to which rewards such as salary increases and promotions are

awarded according

to employee performance, rather than seniority (MERITOCRACY vs. GERONTOCRACY),favoritism, or

other performance factors.8. Means-ends orientation: The degree to which management focuses on results rather than onthe techniquesand processes used to achieve those results or outcomes.9. Conflict tolerance: The degree to which employees are encouraged to air conflicts andcriticism openly.10. Open system focus: The degree to which the organisation monitors and responds to changesin the externalenvironment.

Appraising the organisation on these 10 characteristics, then, gives a composite picture of the

organisation's culture. This is the basis for feelings of shared understanding that members haveabout the organisation, how things are done in it and the way members are supposed to behave.

FUNCTIONS OF CULTURECulture performs a number of functions in organisations. A few of them are given below:-

1. It has boundary defining role i.e., it creates distinctions between one organisation and another.

2. It conveys a sense of identity for organisation members.

3. Culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than one's individual self

interest.

4. It enhances the social system stability. Culture is the social glue that holds the organisationtogether by providing standards for employees about what to say and do.5. Culture serves as a sense making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudesand behaviour of employees.TRANSMISSION OF CULTURE TO EMPLOYEESCulture is transmitted to employees in a number of ways. The following 4 ways help usunderstand howemployees learn culture in the organisations:-

1. Stories: This is circulated throughout organisations, which typically contain events etc. launched by the organisation's founding fathers. Their philosophy, value systems, attitudes get circulated .

There are other aspects in the organisation, which also get circulated. Some of these are - rule

breaking, rags to riches stories, reductions in work force, relocation of employees, reactions to

past mistakes, and coping strategies in the organisation to manage change and turbulence in the

environment. These stories provide explanations and legitimacy to current practices in the

organisation.



2. Rituals: These are repetitive sequences of activities which express and reinforces the Key values

of the organisation, besides, what goals are more important, and which people are important and

which of them are of no consequence.

3. Material symbols: Some organisations provide their top executives with chauffeur driven car, and

other facilities, travel for self and family at the organisation's cost and other perquisites. The

material symbols include the size and layout of offices, the elegance of furnishings, executive

perks and dress. This symbol conveys to employees who is important, the degree of

egalitarianism, and the behaviour like risk taking, conservatism, authoritarian, participation,

individualism, which are appropriate.

4. Language: Many organisations and units within organisations use language as a way to identify

members of a culture or sub culture. By learning this language, members attest to their

acceptance of culture and in so doing help to preserve it.

Organisations over time often develop unique terms to describe equipment, offices, key

personnel, suppliers. Customers or products that relate to its business. New employees are

frequently overwhelmed with acronyms and jargons. This terminology acts as a common

denominator that unite members of a given culture or sub culture.

MAINTAINING ORGANISATION CULTURE

An organisation's culture does not pop out of thin air. Once established, it rarely fades away. Anorganisation's current customs, traditions and general way of doing things are largely due to what

it has done before and the degree of success it has had with those endeavors. This leads us to the

ultimate source of an organisation's culture i.e., its founders fathers.

Once a culture is in place, there are practices like the human resources practice which reinforces

the organisation's culture. The selection process, performance evaluation criteria, reward

practices, training and career development activities and promotion procedures ensure that those

hired fit in with the culture, reward those who support it, and penalise those who challenge it.

Besides, the following 3 forces play a particularly

important part in sustaining a culture. They are:-

1. Selection process and practices.

2. Actions of top management

3. Socialisation needs.

Let us discuss each of these in some detail:-



1. Selection process and pr actives: The goal of the selection process is to identify and hire

individuals who have knowledge, skill and abilities to perform the jobs within the organisation

successfully. But typically more than one candidate will be identified who meets any given job

requirement. When that point is reached, it would be naive to ignore that the final decision as to

who is hired is significantly influenced by the decision maker's judgement of how well the

candidates will fit into organisation. This attempt to ensure a match, whether purposely or inadvertently results in the hiring people who have values essentially consistent with those of the

organisation or atleast in some values. Additionally, the selection process provides information

to applicants about the organisation. Candidates learn about the organisation and if they perceive

conflict between the values and those of the organisation, they can self-select themselves out of

the applicant pool selection, therefore, selection becomes a two way traffic, allowing either

employees or applicants to abrogate a marriage if there appears to be a mismatch. In this way,

the selection process sustains an organisation's culture by selecting those individuals who might

attack or undermines its core values.

2. Actions of top management: The actions of top management also have a major impact on theorganisation'sculture. Through what they say and how they behave, senior executives establish norms thatfilter down

through the organisation as to whether risk-taking is desirable, how much freedom managers

should give their subordinates. What is appropriate dress, what actions will pay off in terms of

pay raises, promotion, rewards, and the like.

4. Socialisation: It is a continuous process of transmitting key elements of an organisation's culture

to its employees. It consists of both formal methods and informal means for shaping the



attitudes, thoughts, and behaviour of employees. Viewed from the organisation's perspective.

Socialisation is like placing an organisation's finger prints on people. From the employee's point

of view, it is the essential process of learning the ropes to survive and prosper within the

company.

Socialisation can be conceptualized as a process consisting of three stages as stated below:-1. Pre-arrival: It encompasses all the learning that occurs before a new member joins theorganisation.2. Encounter: The new employee sees what the organisation is really like and confronts the possibility thatexpectations and reality may diverge.3. Metamorphosis: It is a relatively long lasting change. Here the new employee adjusts to hiswork group'svalues and norms.The Socialisation process can be depicted in a diagram, which follows:OUTCOMES

DETAILED EXPLANATION TO THE 3 STAGES OF SOCIALISATION PROCESS1. THE PRE-ARMVAL STAGE

It explicitly recognise that each individual arrives with a set of values, attitudes, and

expectations. These cover both the work to be done and the organisation. For instance, in many

jobs, particularly professional work , new members will have undergone a considerable

Socialisation in the school as well as during training. One major purpose of a business school, for

e.g., is to help students socialise to the attitudes and behaviour, a corporation would look for. If

business executives believe that successful employees will value profit, ethics, loyalty, hard

work, desire to achieve, and willingly accept directions from their superiors, organisations can

hire such employees \ individuals who have been cast in the mould by business schools. The

selection process is used in most organisations to inform prospective employees about the

organisation as a whole. The selection process enables the organisation to select the right person

for the right job, who will possess right attitudes, behaviour

and aptitude. This will help the new employee to socialise in the new organisation faster and

quicker. The selection process also enables both the selector and the person seeking selection to

know each of them fits into the other or not. Thus, it becomes a filtering process. Both the

organisation and the individual must match to be successful on both the parts.



2. THE ENCOUNTER STAGE

In this stage, the individual employee confronts a possible dichotomy between the expectations

about coworkers, the job, boss, and the organisation in general, and realities. As the proverb

goes - EXPECTATIONS MAY NOT ALWAYS CORRESPOND TO REALITIES. When thereis a gap between the expectations and realities, it is better for the new employee to undergo

socialisation so that the previous assumptions made about the organisation and its environment

be put aside and replaced with the realities. Even then, if an individual is not able to come to the

grip of realities, one may alienate from the organisation after having joined it. That is why,

during the selection process, all the emphasis be placed on PERSON-JOB FIT, and the

PERSON- ORGANISATION FIT.

Finally, a new member must work out any problems discovered during the encounter stage. This

may mean accepting realities and incorporating changes in one self in attitudes, behaviour etc.

Once the change is well received and accepted and appreciated, the 3rd stage begins, which is

called the metamorphosis stage.

3. METAMORPHOSIS STAGE

When the new employee becomes comfortable with the realities, one can say that the

metamorphosis has been accomplished. The new employee has internalised the norms of the



organisation and the work group, the new employee will be accepted by the peers as a trusted

and valuable individual.. While with the work group the new

employee must demonstrate that the organisation's norms, expected attitude, and behaviour,organisation's rules

and procedures, policies, appraisal and reward system, and job requirements are acceptable.Successful metamorphosis should bring positive impact on the new employee's productivity andcommitment tothe organisation, and reduce the propensity to alienate from the organisation.IMPACT OF CULTURE ON PERFORMANCE AND SATISFACTIONThe following diagram depicts organisation culture as intervening variableStrengthPerceived asEmployees form an overall subjective perception of the organisation based on such factors as of degree of groupemphasis, support of people, risk tolerance, and management's willingness to tolerate conflict.

This overal

perception becomes, in effect, the organisation culture or personality. These perceptions could befavourable

or unfavourable. The employee's performance is affected as a result of these perceptions.

Culture does not have an equal impact on both employee performance and satisfaction. There is

relatively a strong relationship between culture and satisfaction, but this is moderated by

individual differences. In general, the satisfaction would be highest when there is congruence

between the individual needs and the culture. It can be straightaway said that job satisfaction

often varies according to the employee's perception of the organisation's culture.

It is a point of debate whether culture and performance is directly related or not. A number of

studies show that the two are inter related, but the relationship is moderated by the organisation's

technology. Performance will be higher when the culture suits the technology. If the culture is

informal, creative and supports risk taking and conflict, performance will move up even if the

technology is non-routine and unconventional or extremely new.

LESSON NO. 14ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT(THIS LESSON IS IN TWO PARTS. PART ± I DEALS WITH ORGANISATIONALCHANGE



& PART ± II DEALS WITH ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT)PART ± ORGANISATIONAL CHANGEINTRODUCTION

We are aware of the axiom that the only certainty in this world is that there will be CHANGE.

As one English poet said: THE OLDER ORDER CHANGETH. YIELDING PLACE TO NEW.If we compare closely, we find that in many respects, an organisation is akin to a living

organism. Just like animated, organisations do not remain the same over a period of time. As a

matter of fact, either through a planned change or through efforts an organisation can adapt to

changes in its external and internal circumstances. Just as any animate needs to respond to the

barrage of changes taking place in its environment, organisation do face changing circumstances

in its life cycle,. Organisations must be receptive to changes and in its scheme of things accept,

welcome, and incorporate changes; otherwise, organisations will be overtaken by changes, and

find it difficult to manage change.

WHY ORGANISATIONAL CHANGES?

We begin by comparing organisations with animate human beings. Why organisations change

can be better understood by understanding why individuals change. Individuals experience two

types of changes - one, they try to adjust and adopt to changes happening in the external

environment such as the offer of a new job, competition etc, and second, even if nothing changes

in the external environment, still individuals automatically keep changing from adulthood to old

age, family responsibilities etc.

Like human beings, organisations are also open systems. Therefore the same reasons also apply

to organisational changes. So to say, organisations change both because of situational

fluctuations in the environmental demands, as well as because it is in their nature to grow anddevelop..



A list of some of the changes which affected almost all organisations in the past few years isgiven below:-

1. Technological innovations have multiplied, products and know how are fast becoming

obsolete.

2. Basic resources have progressively become more expensive.

3. Competition has sharply increased.

4. Communication and computers have reduced the time needed to make decisions.

5. Environmental and consumers interest groups have become active and more influential.

6. The drive for social equity has gained momentum

7. The economic inter dependence among countries has become more apparent and a necessity.

All the reasons for organisational changes can be classified into 2 categories, namely, Externalreasons, and Internal



Reasons. They are mentioned below, one by one: -EXTERNAL REASONS

1. Government Rules and Regulations

2. Competition

3. Technological Advances4. Change in people requirements.

INTERNAL REASONS

1. Change in Leadership

2. Introducing new technology

3. The Domino Effect (One change in a significant area triggering off several major and minor

changes)

4. Crisis situations in organisations.

5. Organisational Life Cycle.

LARRY GREINER¶S 5 PHASES OF ORGANISATIONAL LIFEoungMaturedAge of the organisationTYPES OF CHANGESThey are of 2 types essentially:-1. Reactive changes2. Proactive changes.

Reactive changes occur when the forces compel organisation to implement change without

delay. In other words, when demands made by the forces are complied in a passive manner, such

a change is called reactive change.

Proactive changes occur when some factor make organisations sit and look up the changes

affecting the organisation, and accordingly move the organisation towards change, rather than

resisting them. That means, organisation leaders prepare themselves and their organisations to

change in a planned manner.

DEFERENCES BETWEEN REACTIVE CHANGE AND PROACTIVE CHANGEReactive Change

1. Involves reflexive Behaviour

2. Covers a limited part of the system

3. Responds to immediate symptoms

Proactive Change



1. Involves purposive behaviour

2. Coordinates the various parts of the system as a hole.

3. Address to the underlying forces creating symptoms.

Remember, you respond reflexively to a sudden intense light by blinking your eyes or by

papillary contraction. Undoubtedly, this automatic and instant response to a force which you areunable to fight against. But, your purposive response to the same force may involve devising a

plan either to shield the eyes or removing the light. Obviously, this involves coordination of the

central nervous system and psychomotor capacities.

PLANNED CHANGE

We have learnt that proactive changes are effected in a planned manner after assessing the

underlying effects of the forces operating in the external and internal environment. When

changes are effected after working when and how they will be introduced and carried out in the

organisations, they become planned changes. In that case, the manager or leader must constantly

assess the changes in both the environments, and take immediate corrective measures to bring

about planned changes in a planned and deliberate manner.

Changes can be introduced successfully when there are conducive factors in the system. KURT

LEWIN has developed a useful technique, namely, THE FORCE FIELD ANALYSIS, for

diagnosing whether or not the given system is conducive for introducing change.

FORCE FIELD ANALYSISLEWIN'S model of CHANGE is derived from the laws of physics, which state that the positionof an object and

its direction are determined by the forces operating on it. In his model, LEWIN used three terms,namely, the

driving forces, the resisting forces, and quasi-static equilibrium, to explain human behaviour at

any given point of time. He contends that a person's behaviour is the product of two opposing

forces. One force pushes toward preserving the status quo (i.e., restraining or resisting force),

and another force (i.e., the driving force) pushes for change. When the two opposing forces are

approximately equal ( i.e., quasi-static equilibrium), current behaviour has occurred. For

changing behaviour, the forces maintaining status quo must be overcome. This can be

accomplished by increasing the driving forces, reducing the restraining forces or by converting a

restraining force to driving force

LEWIN'S CHANGE MODELLEWIN's Change model is a three-step process consisting of UNFREEZING, CHANGING,AND RE-FREEZING. Each of these steps is explained below:-UNFREEZING



No change occurs in a vacuum. To the extent the new perspective differs from the old one, the

old one implies doubting of its own existence. This necessitates unlearning of old things in order

to learn new things. This is called as UNFREEZING.

Unfreezing involves encouraging individuals to discard old behaviour by taking up the

equilibrium state that maintains status quo. Unfreezing is accomplished by linking rewards withwillingness to change, and punishment with unwillingness to change. Thus, individuals are made

to feel that they have to forget their old ways and accept the new ways. They are convinced to

accept that change needs to happen. In this way, the individuals are made to surrender

themselves by boundaries of their status quo to be opened in preparation for change.

CHANGING

The second step in the change process is changing or moving. Having unlearnt the previous

experience and practices, the concerned person is now ready for accepting new behaviour and

the change perspective. Then efforts are made to bring new attitude, values and behaviours,

which become substitutes to the old ones. Individuals are provided models to emulate their

behaviour. This helps them to identify themselves. Intemalisation is another process of changing.

Intemalisation refers to such situation where an individual is required to behave in a new manner

in order to operate effectively in such given situation. What happens when an individual behaves

time and again in the same way and that particular behaviour becomes the individual's usual or

routine behaviour. Thus, this implies the trial and error learning of a new behaviour.

REFREEZING

Refreezing is the final step in the change process. In this step, new attitudes, values, and

behaviours are established as the new status quo. For this, the new ways of operating arecemented and reinforced. The managers need to ensure the organisational compatibility so that

the new behaviour is repeated time and again. In the absence of organisational compatibility, the

new behaviour is likely to extinguish.

In most of the training programmes for business executives, what happens is during the training

programme, the executives learn umpteen number of behaviours. Some of them they accept also

as necessary. But, when they go back to their organisation, they soon to forget the new behaviour

because of want of appropriate atmosphere inn the organisation to display their newly learnt

behaviour. Therefore, this calls for reinforcement of new

behaviour to make it one's usual or status quo behaviour.RESISTANCE TO CHANGEAlthough change is inevitable, people tend to resist it in a rational response based on self interest.Resistance tochange is not always bad or harmful. In some cases, resistance to change is positive also.Resistance to change



can also be a source of conflict in the various functions of the organisation.. for e.g., resistance to

change in product line can stimulate a healthy debate over the merits of the idea, and, thus, result

in a better decision. However, it also hinders adaptation and progress.

Some evidence of resistance to change is overt such as wildcat strikes, work stoppages, protests,

sit-in-strikes etc. Resistance to change is very subtle and indirect, sometimes. For e.g.,

dissatisfaction, grievances, requests for transfer, absenteeism and conflict among the members of



a work team. Resistance to change can be divided for analytical purposes into two broad

categories, namely, the individual and organisational resistance. The following diagram shows

the various reasons for resistance to change:-

DIAGRAM SHOWING VARIOUS REASONS OF RESISTANCE TO

CHANGE

Driving Forces for Change

Internal forces

1. New Technology2. Changing work values3. Creation of new knowledge4. Product obsolescence5. Desire for leisure and alternative work schedule.Environmental Forces1. Competition2. Change in consumer demands3. Resource availability

4. Social and political change5. International changesForces Resisting ChangeIndividual Resistance1. Fear of the unknown2. New learning3. Disruptions of stable friendship4. Distrust of managementOrganisational Resistance1. Threat to the power structure2. Inertia of organisational structure

3. System relationship4. Sunk costs and vested interestINDIVIDUAL RESISTANCEIndividuals resist change for various reasons. Given below are 4 reasons why individuals mayresist change:-1. FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN



Changes often bring with it ambiguity and uncertainty. If, for example, the introduction of a new

computer system requires that the em employees learn some specific statistical techniques, some

may fear that they will be unable to do so. They may, therefore, develop a negative attitude

toward the introduction of new computer system.

2. NEWLEARNIING

For doing a new task, one requires to learn a new language, develop a new technology, or adjust

to a totally new culture. No doubt, learning new ideas can be exciting, most people report that

excitement comes only after the learning has taken place and absorbed.

3. DISRUPTION OF STABLE FRIENDSHIPAlmost all organisational changes disrupt the previous stable friendship. This, in turn, results inuncomfortablefeelings of social isolation and loneliness. This may serve as a source of indirect resistance to

change.4. DISTRUST OF MANAGEMENTThere are well documented findings available from the history of labour relations that managersexploitedlabour. That is why employees often suspect the reason for change and try to oppose them.ORGANISATIONAL RESISTANCEThe organisational structure itself resists changes. The 4 reasons in this regard are given below:-1. THREATS TO POWER SRUCTURE

Most changes have the capacity to disrupt the organisational power structure. Introduction of

decentralised decision making is example of change that is often seen as threats to power of

supervisors and middle level managers but a welcome by lower level of employees.

2. STRUCTURAL INERTIA

Organisational structures have several mechanisms designed to bring stability. Accordingly, job

assignments, selection and training of new employees, and performance reward systems are

designed to bring and maintain stability. These by themselves act as resisting change. Whenever

'an organisation is confronted with change, this structural inertia acts as a counterbalance to

maintain stability.

3. SYSTEM RELATIONSHIPS

As stated earlier, any change has a Domino effect. Changes in one subsystem affects changes in

other subsystems also. For e.g.. a change in the accounting department may influence the

methods of reporting and record keeping of every other department. Hence, the other

departments may resist to change.

4. SUNK COSTS and VESTED INTERESTS



Sunk costs are investments in fixed assets, such as land and building, machinery etc. Vested

interests are the personal commitments of individuals to programmes, policies, or other people.

As individuals find it difficult to abandon, so the organisations fins it difficult to recoup the sunk

cost. This is a source of resistance to change.

REMEMBER IT IS WELL ACCEPTED THAT UNLESS THE PRESENT CONDITIONSCREATE ENOUGH DISCOMFORT, THERE IS NO MOTIVE TOCHANGE. THEREFORE,

THE CHALLENGE BEFORE MANAGEERS (WHO ARE CALLED TO BECOME CHANGE

AGENTS) TO ASSESS EMOTIONAL ASPECTS OF PEOPLE WITH REGARD TO

CHANGE ISSUES FOR MANAGING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE.

MANAGING RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

In a sense, resistance to change is simply a form of feedback that can be used very productively

to manage the resistance to change i.e. one can usher change. There are six key strategies for

managing resistance to change. They are summarised below: -

1. EDUCATION AND TRAINING

If reasons are known, why employees resist change details can be provided to the employees at

various levels as to why change is called for - its pros and cons. Employees can be educated

about the change through face-to- face discussions, memos, group presentations etc.. New

information is a powerful force for change in ambiguous situations. For e.g.. New employee

orientations are particularly effective in changing the behaviour of new employees, because they

would not have known how to behave otherwise. Studies on the introduction of computers in the

workplace indicate that providing employees with opportunities for hands-on experience helpsalleviate some of the fears about the new technology. Employees who have experience with

computers display more positive attitudes and greater efficiency.

2. PARTICIPATION

Before a change is introduced, it is better to involve people in bringing about the change so badly

required by the organisation. Once employees participate in decision making, they can not

disown. Sometimes, employees even after participation in the decision making process may

resist change due to peer pressures and work group pressures. Such resistance can be minimised,

provided the leader for such employees is a votary of change.

3. FACILITATION AND SUPPORT

Another strategy for managing resistance to change is providing support and empathy to those

employees who have trouble in dealing with change. Counseling and therapy, skill training are

examples of support extended by the employees. However, like education and participation



strategies, as explained above, this strategy also suffers from drawbacks, such as time-consuming

and expensive also.

4. NEGOTIATION

Negotiation with a group of powerful individuals resisting change is yet another strategy. Aspecific reward package can be negotiated with the powerful employees to meet their individual

needs. Of course, it can be expensive if too much money change s hands,

5. MANIPULATION

It implies covert attempts to influence people resisting change. Sometimes, the facts may have to

be twisted to make them more attractive. Withholding information deliberately (such information

if received becomes unpleasant), and planting rumours intelligently among those who resist

change may force employees accept change. Like other strategies, this strategy has its own

drawbacks.

6. COERCIONThe organisation, as a last resort, can apply direct threats on those who resist change. Threats of transfer, loss of promotion, unsatisfactory recommendations from supervisors are all examples of coercion.SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF CHANGE IN ORGANISATIONS

First of all, let us understand that resistance to change is normal in the initial stages. However,

for managing change, the change strategy must include the three steps advocated by LEWIN,

namely, THE UNFREEZING, CHANGING, AND REFREEZING. This facilitates the

achievement of organisational changes in a consistent and desired manner. GRIENER 'S studyhas revealed that successful changes appeared to follow a relatively consistent pattern, while

there was inconsistent pattern in unsuccessful changes. GREINER has identified the following 8

eight stages through which organisations can successfully implement change: -

1. Internal or external pressures create a need for change, which is shared in the organisation, particularly at thetop level.2. An outsider, either a new executive or consultant who has the reputation for creating changeenters the

organisation.3. This change agent encourages the organisation to reexamine its past practices and present

problems.

4. The top team assumes a direct role in conducting the reexamination of past practices.

5. The change agent provides people at different levels with new ideas and methods for developing solutions tothe organisational problems.



6. The change agent with the help of top management involves at different levels in theorganisation to diagnose previous practices and their relevance in the future or present context.7. The initial solutions are tested or implemented on a small scale, and, if found successful,applied over the whole

organisation or in some more parts of the organisation.8. As the change efforts spread, they get absorbed permanently, and they will become the way of life inorganisations. NOW, THE SECOND PART OF THE LESSONPART II: ORGANISATION DEVELOPMENTMEANING OF 0. D.According to KOONTZ et al: OD is a systematic, integrated and planned approach to improvethe effectivenessof the enterprise. It is designed to solve problems that adversely affect the operational efficiencyat all levels.

According to BURKE, O.D. is a planned process of change in an organisations culture throughthe utilization of behavioural science technology, research, and theory.

According to FRENCH and BELL, O.D. is a systematic approach to organisational improvement

that applies behavioural science theory and research in order to increase individual and

organisational well being and effectiveness,

From the above narration, one can understand that OD IS A LONG TERM, MORE

ENCOMPASSING CHANGE APPROACH MEANT TO IMPROVE INDIVIDUAL AS WELL

AS ORGANISATIONAL WELL BEING IN A CHANGED SITUATION.

NOTABLE POINTS ON ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (O.D.)

1. An on-going process of change in the context of an organisation.

2. Systematic approach.

3. Makes use of Behavioural sciences, technology, research etc.

4. Pro-active, long-range research effort.

5. Focuses on the culture of the formal work teams,

Originated out of experiments conducted by DOUGLAS McGREGOR in UNION CARBIDE,

USA. Other names associated with OD are - BLAKE AND MOUTON, HERBERT

SHEPARD etc.

7. In India, it emerged in 1960's.

8. Professors PAREEK, T.V.RAO, ABAD AHMAD, NITISH DE, GAURANG

CHATTOPADHYAY, GOPAL

VALECHA have been the researchers and consultants in OD Area.



9. HMT and L&T, KAMANI GROUP, TISCO, ORIENT PAPER MILLS. BOKARO STEELPLANT,INDIAN ALUMINUM COMPANY, HINDUSTAN STEEL, SBI are some of the prominentorganisations

which have embarked on the journey to OD.10. Institutions like - ASCI, IIMs JSABS, etc. conduct OD training programmes regularly.

11. OD deals with problems of Organisational Change.

12. OD is a social invention and a hangs technique.

13. It is NOT a set of techniques, but a process of Change.

14. OD seeks improvements and improvements are necessary for survival and growth.

15. OD is a planned approach organisation-wide.

16. OD starts from the upper echelons of the organisation.

17. OD can also be applied to new organisations to shape it in a particular mould.

A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO O.D.

1. Don't start off in a big way.

2. Choose receptive points of entry.(i.e.. Departments we people are receptive to change).

3. Focus on the link pins. This will help in Team-building.

4. Work with autonomous parts (i.e., a Department which does not depend on other departmentsfor approval to

initiate change).

5. Use internal resources and develop them from the very beginning.

6. Start up at the top and get their commitment.7. Work with forces supportive of change.

8. Have multiple points of entry.

9. Work on organisation's problems as perceived, NOT as imagined.

10. Use pro-active behaviour.

TECHNIQUES USED IN THE TEAM BUILDING

1. Role Analysis Technique (RAT)

2. Role Negotiation Technique (RNT)

3. Interdependency Exercise.

4. The Appreciations and Concerns Exercise.5. Responsibility Charting.

6. Appreciable Inquiry.

7. Visioning.

8. Force Field Analysis.

9. A GESTALT Approach to Team-building.



CHARACTERISTICS OF 0. D1. OD is a systematic approach to planned change. It is a structured cycle of diagnosingorganizational problemsand opportunities .2. OD is grounded in solid research and theory. It involves the application of our knowledge of

behavioralscience to the challenges that the organisations face.3. OD recognises the reciprocal relationships between individuals and organisation. Itacknowledges that for organizations to change, individuals must change also

4. OD is goal oriented. It is a process that seeks to improve both individual and organisationalwell beingand effectiveness.5. OD is designed to solve problems.OBJECTIVES OF OD

1. Improve organisational performance as measured by profitability, market share,innovativeness etc.2. Make organisation better adaptive to environment.3. Make the members willing face organisational problems and contribute to creative solutions tothe problemsof the organisation.4. Improve internal behaviour patterns such as interpersonal relations, intergroup relations, levelof trust andsupport among the role players.5. Understand one's own self and others, openness and meaningful communication andinvolvement in planning

for organisational development.MODELS OF OD

There are three Models of OD. They are: THE KURT LEWIN'S THREE STEP MODEL, THE

GRINER'S SEQUENTIAL MODEL, AND THE LEAVITT'S SYSTEM MODEL. Let us take

each of these in the following paragraphs

1. THE KURT LEWIN'S MODEL



This Model is based on the premises that before actually introducing a change, organisation

needs to be prepared for change, motivated to change, stabilised and integrated the change into

behaviours of organisation. Accordingly, LEWIN'S change model includes three steps in its

process, namely, the UNFREEZING, THE CHANGING, and THE REFREEZING.(Students

have been told about this in the first part of this lesson, while dealing with ORGANISATION

CHANGE)

2. THE GREENER'S MODEL

According to this Model, change occurs in terms of certain sequences. The external stimulus

pressures the management of organisations to initiate the change process. The management in

response to stimulus is motivated to take actions to introduce change in the organisation.

Following the actions to introduce change, the various change stages occur in a subsequential

manner such as diagnosis of the problem, invention of a new solution, experimentation with the

new solution and reinforcement from positive results. It is depicted below:-

PhaseIIIIIIIVVVIPROF. K.V. MURTHY77

Pressure

On Top

Manage-

ment

Recognit

ion of the

specific

problem

Reorient

ation tointernal

problem

Arousal

to take

action



Reinforce-

ment from

positive result

Experimenta

tion of thenew solution

Invention

of the new

solution

Diagnosis

of the

problem

area

Intervent

-ion at

the top

Commit

ment to

new

course of

Searchfor the

results

Acceptance of new practic



THE LEAVITT'S MODELL

This Model is founded on the interactive nature of the various subsystems in a change process. Inan organisational system, there are 4b interacting subsystems, namely, the people, the

environment, the structure (SUB TASKS), and the Technology. Due to their interacting nature,

change in anyone of the sub system tends to have consequences for the other sub systems also.

Change s in any one of the sub systems can be worked out depending upon the situation. How

the various sub systems interact with each other in a change process is depicted in the following

diagram:-

DIAGRAM SHOWING INTERACTING SUBSYSTEMS OF LEAVITT¶S MODELSTRUCTURETASK TECHNOLOGYPEOPLEOD INTERVENTIONS

How to bring about OD? The answer is through OD intervention. Interventions are the set of

structural activities in which selected organisational units, be they individual or groups, engage

with a task or a sequence of task. Goals are directly or indirectly related to organisational

improvement. For this, an umpteen number of alternatives i.e., OD interventions exist. One way

of classifying these methods is by knowing the target of change. In practice, the target of change

may be the individuals, their groups within the organisations or the organisation as a whole. OD

interventions aimed at these targets are discussed below in seriatim.

1. INDIVIDUAL FOCUSSED INTERVENTIONSTargeted at individuals are the skills training, sensitivity training, job redesign, role negotiation,and career planning.a) THE SENSITIVITY TRAINING



Also called as T-Group training or Laboratory training, this training is designed to help

individuals understand how their behaviour affects others. Members are brought together in a

free and open environment in which participants discuss themselves. The discussion is loosely

directed by a professional behavioural scientist called as the facilitator, who intervenes only to

help the group move forward. The objective of training is to increase sensitivity towards others.

The outcome of such training should, therefore, help employees understand others better, become aware of own feelings and perceptions and improve communication.

SKILLS TRAINING

This refers to increasing the job knowledge, skills, and abilities that are necessary to do a job

effectively. Skill training is imparted either in formal class room setting or on the job. The need

for imparting skill training arises as a result of the rapid changes that organisations face in the

technical management. The job knowledge needs to be continuously updated to move with

change. This way, the organisation can ensure that their workforce not only get motivated but

also they are prepared to accept changes in the technology without a whimper of protest. Another

advantage is that the new employees' level of output can also be increased along with the old

employees.

JOB REDESIGN

As an OD intervention, job redesign helps jobs to improve the fit between individual skills and

the demands of the job. We have already known that job redesign can be accomplished by such

interventions as job enrichment, job enlargement, job simplification, and job rotation. These

methods are used as OD techniques for realigning task demands and individual capabilities.

ROLE NEGOTIATION

Sometimes, group members have differing expectations of one another within the working

relationship. Role negotiation is a simple technique whereby individuals meet and clarify their

psychological contract. In doing this, the expectations of each party are clarified and negotiated.

The outcome of role negotiation is improved understanding between the members.

CAREER PLANNING

It refers to matching an individual's career aspirations with the opportunities available in the

organisation. In other words, it involves activities offered by the organisation to individuals toidentify strengths, weaknesses, specific goals and they would like to occupy. Career planning

activities benefit both the individuals and the

organisation. Counseling sessions are held to help employees identify their skills and

deficiencies, if any. The organisation can then plan its training and development programmes

based on the information to improve individual's skills required for assuming higher



responsibilities. Such a process may help the organisation identify and also nurture the talented

employees for potential promotion.

f) MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT TRAIN ING

This encompasses a host of techniques designed to enhance a manager's skills on the job.Training for management development generally focuses on 4 types of learning, namely, verbal

information, intellectual skills, attitudes, and development. Management development training

becomes successful when it becomes experiential training or action learning. Simulation,

business games, role playing, case studies, group and syndicate discussions, and sensitivity

training are some of the methods employed for management development training, out of the

several available. The most appropriate ones should be chosen and targeted, as otherwise,

training efforts go in vain

2 ORGANISATION AND GROUP FOUSSED INTERVENTIONS

OD interventions aimed at changing the organisation itself or changing the work groups within

the organisation include SURVEY FEEDBACK,MBO,QUALITY OF WORKLIFE, TEAM

BUILDING, ANDPROCESS CONSULTATION. These are briefly discussed below: -

1. SURVEY FEEDBACK

Widely used intervention whereby employee attitudes are solicited using a questionnaire. This is

called as SURVEY FEEDBACK. The questions included in the questionnaire intend to diagnose

the problem within the organisation and to identify areas or opportunities for change. The data so

generated is attitudinal in nature. The data is tabulated and distributed to employees. These data

then become springboard for identifying problems and clarifying issues that may be creatingdifficulties for people. Generally, feedback of results is given only to the group which generated

the idea. Thus, once the problems are diagnosed, necessary corrective measures are taken to

resolve the organisational problems. After sometime, a second survey is conducted to measure

improvement in the situation.

2. M.B.O.

It involves joint goal setting between employees and managers. The process includes the setting

of initial objectives, periodic progress reviews, and problem solving to remove the obstacles to

goal achievement. All these are steps involving participation actively by both the employees andtheir managers.

As an OD intervention, MBO has a 3-step approach. First, it clarifies what an organisation

expects from its employees, Second, I it provides knowledge of results, which is very much

required as essence in effective job performance, and Third, MBO is an opportunity to improve

performance, meaningful communication and increased participation in decision making.



If MBO is rightly implemented in organisations as an OD intervention, the organisation will besuccessful inlinking the organisation goals with the goals of the organisation.3. QUALITY OF WORKLIFE (QWL)

QWL consists a whole package of terms and notions, all of which speak about the common goalof humanizing the workplace. DAVID and NEWSTROM have perceived a wide range of QWL

activities as open communication, equitable reward systems, a concern for employee job security

and participation in job design.

The INTERNATIONAL LABOUR OFFICE (ILO) has listed the following interventions of QWL:-

a) Hours of work and arrangements of working time

b) Working organisation and job content

c) Impact of new technologies on working conditions

d) Working condition of women, young workers, older workers and other special categories.e) Work related welfare services and facilities

f) Shop floor participation in the improvement of working conditions.

Any comprehensive list of QWL programmes would encompass job redesign, participative

management and involving unions, education, training and legislative measures. The very

purpose of this intervention is to change the climate at work so that a better quality of work life

is created.

4. TEAM BUILDING

All organisations consist of people, primarily as important inputs. People are required to work in

teams or work groups. Hence, there is a need for TEAM BUILDING. It is an OD intervention

designed to improve the effectiveness of a work group. It usually begins with defining the goals

and priorities of the group. The following 4 areas in TEAM BUILDING are critical:_

1. Team building should develop effective communication amongst members

2. Team building encourages members to interact and learn that their work is interdependent.

3. Team building should emphasis team goals

4. Team building should stress on flexibility. It should exemplify effective teamwork.

5. PROCESS CONSULTATION

In reality, no organisation operates perfectly. When managers sense that there is room for

improving their company's performance, but do not know hoe to improve it, the process

consultation comes to their rescue. This concept has been clearly conceptualized by EDGAR

SCHEIN. The distinguishing feature of process consultation approach is that an outside



consultant is used to assist usually a manager to perceive, understand and act on process events.

Rather, the consultant acts as a guide or coach who advises the process to help the

clients or managers to solve their own problem. The role of the consulted is to help employeeshelp themselves. The processes most often targeted are COMUNICATION, CONFLICT

RESOLUTION, DECITION MAKING, GROUP ENTER ACTION, AND LEADERSHIP. The

steps involved in process consultation are the following :

a) Entering the organisation.

b) Defining the relationship.

c) Choosing and approach.

d) Gathering data and diagnosing problems.

e) Intervening, and finally.

f) Leaving the organisation gradually

We must remember that the various OD interventions are merely the just means to an end.

Interventions themselves do not drive change, where as certainly business compulsions and

business emergencies and business need do. OD interventions are a means for moving the

organisation and its employee in amore effective direction.

FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF 0. D. INTERVENTION

The selection of a right OD intervention is quite crucial. If the managers are not aware of the

right intervention, they had better involve outside consultant to undertake the necessary job.

Selection of an OD intervention is influenced by three important factors, each of which isdescribed in some detail: -

1. APPLICABILITY:

It means the potential of a given intervention to bring disered result. It also means to address

enough the real problem and also to be a ware if it is promising for being solved. One have to

examine the pros and comes associated with every intervention on a given problem. Next, the

consultant will need to evaluate the client system care fully and with grate concern before

actually introducing any intervention, however right and adequate it may be.

2. FEASIBILITY:Feasibility means the suitability of unintervention to suight the client system that is to say, theconsultant needsto evaluate whether unintervention can actually be effectual introduced in given type of clientsystem.3. ACCEPTABILITY:



Whatever applicability an fusibility an unintervention carries, it has no use and effeteness unless

it is acceptable to the client system. It means unintervention needs to be accepted by its client

system to bring desired result. It simply means that sufficient preparatory work is required in

working out and appropriate intervention.

O.D. AND MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENTOD is a strategy which is planned and implemented from the top with a view to bring plannedorganisationchange for increasing organisational effectiveness.

By, management development, on the

other hand is the means to, increase the skills and ability of management staff. Since managers

are expected to be conversant with the latest changes in social, economic, technological and

political environments, organisations usually send their managers to attend management

development programmes to institutes of higher learning. Some organisations



involvement

the information they need to design the chance and when others have considerable power to

resist

will be committed toimplementing changeconsuming

if participators design an

inappropriatechangeFacilitation andsupportWhen people are resting because of

adjustment problems

No other approach works as well with adjustment problems

Can be

time consuming and still fail



Negotiation andagreement

When someone or some group will clearly lose out in a change and when that group has

considerable power to resist

Sometimesitisarelatively easy way toavoid major resistance

Can be too expensive in many cases if it alerts

other

tonegotiatefor complianceManipulationand co-optationWhen other tactics will not work or are too expensive

It can be a relatively quick and inexpensive solution to resistance problems

Can led to future problems if people feel manipulated

Explicitandimplicit coercionWhen speed is essential and thechangeinitiators possessconsiderable able power

It is speedy and can overcome any kind of resistance

Can be risky if it leaves people mad at the initiators

LESSON NO. 15ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS



Organisational effectiveness is a function of specificity of organisational objectives, structures,

and process variables. Organisational effectiveness defies a single definition. It requires multiple

criteria that the different organisational functions are subject to evaluation employing different

characteristics.

According to DRUCKER, "TO BE EFFECTIVE IS THE JOB OF THE EXECUTIVES".According to SINHA,the term ³EFFECTIVENESS" is often used interchangeably with productivity and efficiency.FLORENCE and BROWN employed the term "PRODUCTIVITY" to mean output from one particular factor of production or particular form of input, and the term "EFFICIENCY", to mean total output fromthe total inputs.STEERS observed that effectiveness is best judged against an organisation's ability to compete ina turbulentenvironment and successfully acquire and use its resources.THE TERM EFFECTIVENESS EXPLAINED

Effectiveness is concerned with goal accomplishment. It answers two questions. One, whether

the goal was achieved? and. Two, whether the goal was appropriate? It is not concerned with the

cost of achieving the goal; rather, it is concerned with the appropriateness and the

accomplishment of the goal.

Suppose you are incharge of a project to build a new plant to manufacture small cars for an

automobile entrepreneur. Suppose this plant is built in the desired time limit set out and planned,

and that it meets all design requirements and specifications. Thus, we can say tentatively you and

your work group in the organisation got the plant built in time. You have been EFFECTIVE. The

goal was reached and the goal was appropriate.

THE TERM EFFICIENCY EXPLAINED

Efficiency is concerned with the cost of goal achievement. It answers the question of how much

it costs us in terms of money, personnel, equipment, psychological factors etc., to achieve the

goal. Thus, it is a ratio of output to input. Efficiency is concerned with accomplishing the goal

using the best possible method. Suppose in the above example of building a plant for the

automobile entrepreneur, you exceed the your budget by a large margin, and there is much waste,

and overtime, rework etc. In other words, the resources that you used greatly exceeded that

which should have been used in building this plant, we can conclude that EVEN THOUGH YOUHAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE, YOU HAVE NOT BEEN EFFICIENT. The plant was built, no

doubt, but at larger costs than planned and budgeted.

REMEMBER: IT IS DIFFICULT TO ESTABLISH A CORRELATION BETWEEN THESE

TWO TERMS, NAMELY, EFFECTIVENESS, AND EFFICIENCY. EFFECTIVENESS

CENTERS MORE ON THE HUMAN SIDE OF ORGANISATIONAL VALUES AND

ACTIVITIES, WHEREAS EFFICIENCY CENTRES ON TECHNOLOGY. IT IS THE



RESULT OF A BLEND OF VAST NUMBER OF VARIABLES INCLUDING

TECHNOLOGY, ENVIRONMENT, PERSONAL COMPETENCIES OF THE EMPLOYEES

AND THE INNOVATIVE ABILITIES OF THE MANAGERS ETC.

Let us take another example for a better understanding. Suppose you are incharge of

Departmentation of Transportation task force for your city. Your group decided that it isnecessary to build an expressway through the middle of the middle of the town. You design all

specifications for this road contract for its construction and its cost remained within the allotted

budget (a rare case indeed). At first glance, you conclude that your group has been both effective

and efficient; the road was built; it meets specifications, and it was built with minimum resources

being employed. However, let us assume that once the road is built, traffic usage is significant.

Furthermore, additional projections show that for the next 5 years, usage will be 50% below the

road capacity. After evaluation carefully and research, you find that the people of city would

have preferred a mass transit system, and that the expressway has not delivered results as

planned. Or preferred.

Thus, your group did not meet the second test of EFFECTIVENESS; namely, the goal was not

appropriate. If your group had more citizen input, you might have known this prior to

constructing the road, but you did not. Therefore, the final conclusion is that you, indeed, you

were efficient - the road was built and met with specifications, but you were not effective.

APPROACHES TO ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESSThere are 4 approaches, namely: -

1. The Goal Attainment Approach

2. The Systems Approach

3. The Strategic Constituencies Approach, and4. The Behavioural Approach.

Each of these approaches is described below: -1. THE GOAL ATTAINMENT APPROACH

An organisation is born with the objectives, by the objectives, and for the objectives. According

to CHESTER BARNARD, what we mean by effectiveness is the accomplishment of recogised

objectives of cooperative effort; the degree of accomplishment indicates the degree of

effectiveness. Organisations effectiveness is appraised in terms of the accomplishment of ends,

rather than the means.

2. THE SYSTEMS APPROACHAccording to this approach, it is the ability of the organisation to transform inputs into outputs,for which purpose, the total effectiveness of a system is dependent on the performance of all sub-parts,whereas goal



attainment aims at accomplishment of goals. The systems approach views such factors as

relations with the environment to assure continued receipt of inputs and positive acceptance of

outputs, responsiveness to the changing environment, efficiency with which transformation may

take place, employee satisfaction, clarity of communication etc.

3. THESTRATEGIC CONSTITUENCIES APPROACH

It is similar to the systems approach, but with a slightly different emphasis. It farther says that an

organisation faces competing demands from various interest groups, both within, and outside the

organisational environment. Therefore, an organisation will have to remove unimportant and

non-competing groups, and choose only critical or strategic constituencies in the environment to

survive. THIS APPROACH IS QUITE DIFFICULT BECAUSE WHAT IS CRITICAL

TODAY, IT MAY NOT BE TOMORROW.

4. THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

In this approach, the behaviour of individuals assumes importance, because it affects success or

failure of organisations. When there is compatibility between the individual goals and that of the

organisation, there is a high degree of organisational effectiveness, which is, an IDEAL situation,

rarely met. When there is no Compatibility, there is less effectiveness. Here lie the challenges for

organisations to bring compatibility, diagnose the causes for underlying low effectiveness,

PROBLEMS IN MEASUREMENT OF ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

All organisations would like to work with effectiveness, but in this process, the organisation

must take up the serious exercise of demarcating what constitutes HIGH EFFECTIVENESS, and

WHAT CONSTITUTES LOW EFFECTIVENESS. ALWIN BROWN has identified thefollowing reasons for the failure of organisations to achieve organisational effectiveness: -

1. Failure of administrators to act when they need to act.

2. Delay in taking action.

3. Taking wrong action.

4. Lack of sufficient effort.

5. Excessive effort in relation to the need.

6. Excessive quality or effort in relation to the problem.

7. Wasted effort.

After diagnosing the causes for low effectiveness, the organisation can take necessary andcorrective action over the controlled factors.The study to measure the organisational effectiveness is difficult because of the followingreason:-



1. There is a difficulty to set the standards for ensuring objective oriented measurement. None is

able to say whether an organization should be regarded as effective although profits are high,

while accompanied by labour unrest, and absenteeism etc.

2. If goals are evenly set, then it is difficult to set the acceptable standards, both tangible and

intangible.3. The very important aspect is that there is no way of estimating the degree to which a greatnumber of variablesother than the organisational elements may have contributed to the achievement of certainobjectives.4. Organisations can hardly be classified as good or bad on the basis of their earnings recordsalone.

5. The criteria used to measure effectiveness may not be sufficiently stable. Their meaning for

organisational performance may change. In times of fast changing price levels, comparing profits

for one year with those of another year may be of no use. Instability effectively precludes the

possibility of a long lasting generalisable set of performance indicators on which the manager,the administrator or researchers can rely.



TYPICAL ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS OF STRATEGIC CONSTITUENCYConstituency

Owners

Employees

Customers

Suppliers

Creditors

Unions

Local communityGovernment agenciesTypical of criteria

Return on investment, growth in earnings

Compensation, fringe benefits, satisfaction with the working conditions

Satisfaction with price, quality, services



Satisfaction with payments, future sales potential

Ability to pay for indebtedness

Competitive wages and benefits satisfactory, working conditions,willingness to bargain fairly.

Involvement of membership organisation in local affairs, no damned to the

community environment

Compliance with laws: avoidance of penalties.

COMPARISON OF THE 4 APPROACHES TO ORGANISATIONAL EFFECRTIVENESSApproachDefinitionAn organisation is effective tot he extent that-When usefulThe approach is preferred when-

Goal attainmentIt accomplishes its stated goalsGoals are clear time bound andmeasurableSystemsIt acquires needed resourcesA clear connection exist betweeninput and outputStrategic constituencies All strategic constituencies are atleastminimally satisfiedConstituencies

have

powerful influences on the organisation and the organisation must

respond to the demands.

Competing valuesThe emphasis of the organisation in the four major areas matches constituents¶ preferences.

The organisation is unclear about its own emphasis or changes in criteria over time are of

interest.

FACTORS IN ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS

Knowing only the criteria or approach to OE is not sufficient enough for managers and

researchers. It is also equally important for them to, identify the underlying factors towards

organisational effectiveness. Besides, one should also know the interrelationship among the 3



factors mentioned below. Viewed from this angle, LIKERT has classified all the factors under 3

groups, which are given below: -

1. Causal factors

2. Intervening factors

3. End result factors

TABLE SHOWING THE INTERRELATIONSHIPAMONG THE 3 FACTORSImplication of µEfficiency¶ and µEffectiveness¶

Consider this: A manager may be very efficient, but that does not necessarily make him effective

as well. Efficiency is generally concerned with µhow well¶ and µhow much¶ a task has been

performed. Some of the factor contributing to the efficiency of a person is his intelligence,

Knowledge, skill and imagination. A highly intelligence person can be clever, but that does not

make him wise as well. A highly efficient manager can be competent, but that alone cannot

guarantee his being effective as well.

Effectiveness relates to the contribution a manager may have made while performing his task ± in term of µwhatresults¶, µhow much¶ and µwhat quality¶. The factor that determine a managers effectiveness are

The extent to which he achieves results ± not just performs tasks;

The extent to which he goes beyond what is normally required of him ;and

The extent to which this quality in him is (a) self ± sustaining; (b) on ±going; and (c)

motivational for others.

Effective people are not problem- minded; they are opportunity minded. The feed opportunitiesand starve problems.

But is there a chance that efficiency is not the answer? Is getting mare things done in less time

doing to make a difference ± or will it just increase the pace at which I react to the people and

circumstances that seem to control my life.

Could there be something I need to see in a deeper, more fundamental way ± some paradigmwithin myself thatthe way I see my time, my life, and my own nature?- Stephan R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

This comes from dedicated, Systematic working by person mellowed with maturity. Intelligence,

Knowledge, Skill and imagination ±the components of efficiency ± are, no doubt, important



supportive factors and are welcome; but they alone are not enough. Many brilliant people turn

out to be failures as result- achievers, whereas even plodders (like the tortoise in that famous

allegory) emerge as very effective result ± achievers.

The features of efficiency and effectiveness can be summarized as shown in table

TABLE what is Efficiency and EffectivenessEfficiency isEffectiveness Concerned with µhow well¶ and µhowmuch¶ of a performed task. Concerned with desired results:�Delivers the goods;�Happens on time;�

Is cost-effective; and�Leaves on side effect. Relies on intelligence, knowledge,skill and imagination. Relies on : wisdom Almost Uni.-dimensional�The specific µtarget¶ is the target; and� Neither the manager nor his superiors

expect anything more. Multi-dimensional:�The µcontribution ¶ is the targer;�Going beyond the confines of currentassignment ; and�A µmotivational process¶ which is self-sustaining and ongoing. Doing thing right.

Doing the right thing.

How do you go about acquiring effectiveness? Is there a set of exercise, prescribed steps, or

exclusive qualities that we can adopt, and thus hope to make ourselves effective as managers?

Disappointing thought it may seem, the answer is µNo¶. Effectiveness does not even have an

entity of its own; it is the sum total of a number of attributes, qualities and attributes that go into

µdistilling¶ effectiveness in you.



Take the case of a chemical compound. It too has no entity of its own; it is created when a

number of specific ingredients are put together in such a manner that the desired chemical

reaction is set into motion. Some atoms of a specific kind and potency are brought together to

produce the required molecules, and some molecules of desired number and potency are brought

together to , finally , create the desired compound . Take away the atoms, and the molecules will

not be formed, and thus the compound itself will not come into being; or you may get amonstrous compound instead!

So much for the ingredients making a compound! Then there is the important question of

providing, and maintaining, the ambiance; for example, the right combination of temperature,

atmospheric pressure and other catalytic factor. In other words the right environment. It is true

that for creating the same compound under varying combinations of temperature, pressure and

catalytic factors, the formulation of the ingredients themselves may required suitable variations.

This is equally true of managerial effectiveness. In order to upgrade yourself from an efficient to

an effective manager, you will not only need to imbibe certain µingredients¶ determining yoursstyle of management, but also create and maintain a conductive µenvironment µ.

I shall now attempt to suggest both the µingredient ¶ and the µenvironment ¶ which ought to

propel you towards managerial effectiveness. Let me emphasize here that these µingredients¶ are

essentially the managerial qualities and know- how that have already been discussed in the

preceding chapters; and the µatmosphere¶ comprises the attitudinal alignments that have been

recommended earlier. While summarizing those qualities and attitudinal factors here, I hope to

convince you that your managerial effectiveness can be acquired only when you make use of

those qualities and attitudinal factors in unison and in an integrated manner.

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