Chapter no.

1 Introduction to organizational behaviour

1.1 Definition of Organisation

Louis Allen, “Organization is the process of identifying and grouping work to be performed, defining and
delegating responsibility and authority and establishing relationships for the purpose of enabling people to
work most effectively together in accomplishing objectives.” In the words of Allen, organization is an
instrument for achieving organizational goals. The work of each and every person is defined and authority and
responsibility is fixed for accomplishing the same.

Koontz and O’Donnell, ‘The establishment of authority relationships with provision for co-ordination between
them, both vertically and horizontally in the enterprise structure.” These authors view organization as a
coordinating point among various persons in the business.
Characteristics of Organisation:
Different authors look at the word ‘organisation’ from their own angle. One thing which is common in all the
viewpoints is that organisation is the establishment of authority relationship among persons so that it helps in
the achievement of organisational objectives.

Some of the characteristics of organisation are studied as follows:

1. Division of Work:
Organisation deals with the whole task of business. The total work of the enterprise is divided into activities
and functions. Various activities are assigned to different persons for their efficient accomplishment. This
brings in division of labour. It is not that one person cannot carry out many functions but specialisation in
different activities is necessary to improve one’s efficiency. Organisation helps in dividing the work into
related activities so that they are assigned to different individuals.

2. Co-Ordination:
Co-ordination of various activities is as essential as their division. It helps in integrating and harmonising
various activities. Co-ordination also avoids duplications and delays. In fact, various functions in an
organisation depend upon one another and the performance of one influences the other. Unless all of them are
properly coordinated, the performance of all segments is adversely affected.

3. Common Objectives:
All organisational structure is a means towards the achievement of enterprise goals. The goals of various
segments lead to the achievement of major business goals. The organisational structure should build around
common and clear cut objectives. This will help in their proper accomplishment.

4. Co-operative Relationship:
An organisation creates co-operative relationship among various members of the group. An organisation
cannot be constituted by one person. It requires at least two or more persons. Organisation is a system which
helps in creating meaningful relationship among persons. The relationship should be both vertical and
horizontal among members of various departments. The structure should be designed that it motivates people
to perform their part of work together.
 5. Well-Defined Authority-Responsibility Relationships:
An organisation consists of various positions arranged in a hierarchy with well defined authority and
responsibility. There is always a central authority from which a chain of authority relationship stretches
throughout the organisation. The hierarchy of positions defines the lines of communication and pattern of
relationships.

1.2 Definition of behaviour

Behaviour is an action that is observable and measurable.
1. Behaviour is observable. It is what we see or hear, such as a student sitting down, standing up, speaking,
whispering, yelling, or writing. ...
2. Behaviour is measurable. This means that the teacher can define and describe the behaviour.
In psychology, behaviour consists of an organism's external reactions to its environment. Other aspects of
psychology, such as emotions, thoughts, and other internal mental processes, don't usually fall under the
category of behaviour.

here are four different types of communication behaviour: aggressive, assertive, passive, and passive-
aggressive.
 Aggressive. Aggression is defined as an unplanned act of anger in which the aggressor intends to hurt someone
or something. ...
 Assertive. ...
 Passive. ...
 Passive-Aggressive.
Good behaviour would consist of being kind and genuine to others, being honest, having proper table manners
maybe, saying please and thank you, being respectful.
A behavioural goal is solely focused on what you, and only you, are doing. To hone in on your behavioural
goal, think of your outcome goal, and then ask yourself, what would it take for you (not Tom, not Nancy….
you) to achieve this goal? What do you have to do to make it happen? Those actions are your behavioural
goals.

1.3 Definition of organisational behaviour

The study of Organizational Behaviour (OB) is very interesting and challenging too. It is related to individuals,
group of people working together in teams. The study becomes more challenging when situational factors
interact. The study of organizational behaviour relates to the expected behaviour of an individual in the
organization.
No two individuals are likely to behave in the same manner in a particular work situation. It is the predictability
of a manager about the expected behavior of an individual. There are no absolutes in human behavior. It is the
human factor that is contributory to the productivity hence the study of human behavior is important. Great
importance therefore must be attached to the study.
In words of K Aswathappa, “OB is the study of human behaviour in organisational setting, of the interface
between human behaviour and organisation and of the organisation itself.”
In words of Stephen P. Robbins, “OB is a field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups
and structures have on behaviour within organisations for the purpose of applying such knowledge towards
improving an organisation’s effectiveness.”
According to L. M. Prasad, “Organisational behaviour can be defined as the study and application of
knowledge about human behaviour related to other elements of an organisation such as structure, technology
and social systems.”
Organisational Behaviour – Nature: A Separate Field of Study and Not a Discipline Only, An
Interdisciplinary Approach, An Applied Science and a Few Others Organizational behaviour has emerged as
a separate field of study.
The nature it has acquired is identified as follows:
1. A Separate Field of Study and Not a Discipline Only:
By definition, a discipline is an accepted science that is based on a theoretical foundation. But, O.B. has a
multi- interdisciplinary orientation and is, thus, not based on a specific theoretical background. Therefore, it
is better reasonable to call O.B. a separate field of study rather than a discipline only.
2. An Interdisciplinary Approach:
Organizational behaviour is essentially an interdisciplinary approach to study human behaviour at work. It
tries to integrate the relevant knowledge drawn from related disciplines like psychology, sociology and anthro-
pology to make them applicable for studying and analysing organizational behaviour.
3. An Applied Science:
The very nature of O.B. is applied. What O.B. basically does is the application of various researches to solve
the organizational problems related to human behaviour. The basic line of difference between pure science
and O.B. is that while the former concentrates of fundamental researches, the latter concentrates on applied
researches. O.B. involves both applied research and its application in organizational analysis. Hence, O.B. can
be called both science as well as art.
4. A Normative Science:
Organizational Behaviour is a normative science also. While the positive science discusses only cause effect
relationship, O.B. prescribes how the findings of applied researches can be applied to socially accepted
organizational goals. Thus, O.B. deals with what is accepted by individuals and society engaged in an
organization. Yes, it is not that O.B. is not normative at all. In fact, O.B. is normative as well that is well
underscored by the proliferation of management theories.
5. A Humanistic and Optimistic Approach:
Organizational Behaviour applies humanistic approach towards people working in the organization. It, deals
with the thinking and feeling of human beings. O.B. is based on the belief that people have an innate desire to
be independent, creative and productive. It also realizes that people working in the organization can and will
actualise these potentials if they are given proper conditions and environment. Environment affects
performance or workers working in an organization.
6 A Total System Approach:
The system approach is one that integrates all the variables, affecting organizational functioning. The systems
approach has been developed by the behavioural scientists to analyse human behaviour in view of his/her
socio-psychological framework. Man’s socio- psychological framework makes man a complex one and the
systems approach tries to study his/her complexity and find solution to it.

Organisational Behaviour – 6 Important Characteristics

According the Keith Davis, ‘Organisational behaviour is an academic discipline concerned with understanding
and describing human behaviour in an organisational environment’. It seeks to shed light on the whole
complex human factor in organisations by identifying causes and effects of that behaviour.
Another definition provided by Joe Kelly states, ‘Organisational behaviour is the systematic study of the nature
of organisations, how they begin, grow, develop, and their effect on individual members, constituent groups,
other organisations and larger institutions’.
Modern organisational behaviour is characterised by the acceptance of a human resource model. It takes a
more positive view of human beings. People are accepted as they are and not prejudged using stereotypes.

Some of the important characteristics of organisational behaviour are discussed as follows:

1. Organisational behaviour is a rational thinking, not an emotional feeling about people. The major goals of
organisational behaviour are to explain and predict human behavioural in organisations. It is action-oriented
and goal-directed.
2. Organisational behavioural seeks to balanced human and technical values at work. It seeks to achieve
productivity by building and maintaining employee’s dignity, growth and satisfaction, rather than at the
expense of these values.
3. Organisational behaviour integrates behavioural sciences. Many of its core concepts are borrowed from
others fields and discipline like social psychology, sociology, and anthropology, etc.
4. Organisational behaviour is both a science and an art, the knowledge about human behaviour in
organisations leans towards being science. Modern organisational behaviour is, at once, empirical,
interpretative, and critical. It is an interpretative science in the pursuit of knowledge and meaning.
The basic purpose is to make meaningful the facts of organisational life. Modern OB is an optic perspective;
a process for looking at events, a way of life. It has empirical facts, and interesting interpretations and powerful
paradigms.
However, it is an inaccurate science to provide specific answers to specific organisational problems. As such
very little can be prescribed to consistently predict relationships between a variable on broad scale. The skills
in applying the knowledge clearly lean towards being art.
5. Organisational behaviour exists at multiple like levels. Behaviour occurs at the individual, the group, and
the organisational systems levels. Behaviour that is attributable to each of these levels can be both identified
and isolated but at the same time these three levels interact with each other and OB-being affected by the
behaviour of individuals, group level behaviour is affected by the organisational level phenomena and so on.
6. Organisational behaviour does not exist in vacuum. Organisations are made up of both social and technical
components and therefore characterized as social-technical systems. The operational implication of this is that
any approach of looking at behaviour must also take into account the technical component of organisation
especially such issues as the nature of work and the technology. Organisations at the same time, must take
into account the constructs of the working environment, for example, the extent to which the market and the
product is changing.

Organisational Behaviour – 3 Levels: Individual, Group and Organisational Level

OB can be defined as actions and behaviors of individuals and groups towards and their impact on the
organization’s overall functioning and performance. OB can be studied at various levels within an
organization, and each level has a unique set of roles, responsibilities, and goals.
Following points discuss the three levels briefly:
1. Individual Level – Deals with the concepts at the individual level. Examples of individual-level concepts
are perception, personality, learning, motivation, and attitude.
2. Group Level – Deals with the concepts at the group level. Examples of group-level concepts are team,
conflict, leadership, power, and politics. Group-level concepts may include how groups are formed, how to
make effective teams, how individually and collectively the group activities can be improved, how to motivate
employees, and which type of group would be suitable for a particular assignment.
3. Organizational Level – Deals with the concepts at the organizational level. Examples of organizational-
level concepts are change management and organizational culture. Other topics discussed at organizational
level include the concept of organization, different organizational models, and organizational change along
with its impact and implementation. The working conditions and stress management are also discussed at the
organizational level.

Q.1 Define Organisational behaviour. And explain its characteristics.

Q.2 Describe the various levels within an organisation and its roles & responsibilities.
Q.3 Write short notes on 1) Organisation. 2) Behaviour.
 Chapter no. 2 Perception, personality and learning

2.1 Perception Definition - In psychology and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of getting,
interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information. It includes the collection of data from sense
organs through to the interpretation made by the brain.

Perception can be defined as our recognition and interpretation of sensory information. Perception also
includes how we respond to the information. We can think of perception as a process where we take in
sensory information from our environment and use that information in order to interact with our environment.

Perception can be defined as a process by which individual organize and interpret their sensory impression in
order to give meaning to their environment.

2.2 Factors influencing perception

A number of factors operate to shape and sometimes distort perception. These factors residei.
i. In the perceiver
ii. In the object or target being perceived or
iii. In the context of the situation in which the perception is made.
Characteristics of the Perceiver
Several characteristics of the perceiver can affect perception. When an individual looks at a target and attempts
to interpret what he or she, that interpretation is heavily influenced by personal characteristics of individual
perceiver. The major characteristics of the perceiver influencing perception are:
A. Attitudes: The perceiver's attitudes affect perception. For example, suppose Mr. X is interviewing
candidates for a very important position in his organization –a position that requires negotiating contracts
with suppliers, most of whom are male. Mr X may feel that women are not capable of holding their own in
tough negotiations. This attitude will doubtless affect his perceptions of the female candidates he
interviews.
B. Moods: Moods can have a strong influence on the way we perceive someone. We think differently when
we are happy than we do when we are depressed. In addition, we remember information that is consistent
with our mood state better than information that is inconsistent with our mood state. When in a positive
mood, we form more positive impression of others. When in a negative mood, we tend to evaluate others
unfavourably.
C. Motives: Unsatisfied needs or motives stimulate individuals and may exert a strong influence on their
perceptions. For example, in an organizational context, a boss who is insecure perceives a subordinate's
efforts to do an outstanding job as a threat to his or her own position. Personal insecurity can be transferred
into the perception that others are out to "get my job", regardless of the intention of the subordinates.
D. Self-Concept: Another factor that can affect social perception is the perceivers' self-concept. An individual
with a positive self-concept tends to notice positive attributes in another person. In contrast, a negative self-
concept can lead a perceiver to pick out negative traits in another person. Greater understanding of self
allows us to have more accurate perceptions of others.
E. Interest: The focus of our attention appears to be influenced by our interests. Because our individual
interests differ considerably, what one person notices in a situation can differ from what others perceive.
For example, the supervisor who has just been reprimanded by his boss for coming late is more likely to
notice his colleagues coming late tomorrow than he did last week. If you are preoccupied with a personal
problem, you may find it hard to be attentive in class.
F. Cognitive Structure: Cognitive structure, an individual's pattern of thinking, also affects perception. Some
people have a tendency to perceive physical traits, such as height, weight, and appearance, more readily.
 Others tend to focus more on central traits, or personality dispositions. Cognitive complexity allows a
person to perceive multiple characteristics of another person rather than attending to just a few traits.
G. Expectations: Finally, expectations can distort your perceptions in that you will see what you expect to
see. The research findings of the study conducted by Sheldon S Zalkind and Timothy W Costello on some
specific characteristics of the perceiver reveal.
 Knowing oneself makes it easier to see others accurately.
 One's own characteristics affect the characteristics one is likely to see inothers.
 People who accept themselves are more likely to be able to see favourable aspects of other people.
 Accuracy in perceiving others is not a single skill.
These four characteristics greatly influence how a person perceives others in the environmental situation.
Characteristics of the Target
Characteristics in the target that is being observed can affect what is perceived. Physical appearance plays a
big role in our perception of others. Extremely attractive or unattractive individuals are more likely to be
noticed in a group than ordinary liking individuals. Motion, sound, size and other attributes of a target shape
the way we see it.
Physical appearance plays a big role in our perception of others. The perceiver will notice the target's physical
features like height, weight, estimated age, race and gender.
Perceivers tend to notice physical appearance characteristics that contrast with the norm, that are intense, or
that are new or unusual. Physical attractiveness often colours our entire impression of another person.
Interviewers rate attractive candidates more favourably and attractive candidates are awarded higher starting
salaries.
Verbal communication from targets also affects our perception of them. We listen to the topics they speak
about, their voice tone, and their accent and make judgements based on this input.
Non-verbal communication conveys a great deal of information about the target. The perceiver deciphers eye
contact, facial expressions, body movements, and posture all in an attempt to form an impression of the target.
The perceiver, who observes the target's behaviour, infers the intentions of the target.
For example, if our manager comes to our office door way, we think "oh no! he is going to give me more work
to do". Or we may perceive that his intention is to congratulate us on a recent success. In any case, the
perceiver's interpretation of the target's intentions affects the way the perceiver views the target.
Targets are not looked at in isolation, the relationship of a target to its background influences perception
because of our tendency to group close things and similar things together.
Objects that are close to each other will tend to be perceived together rather than separately. As a result of
physical or time proximity, we often put together objects or events that are unrelated. For examples, employees
in a particular department are seen as a group. If two employees of a department suddenly resign, we tend to
assume their departures were related when in fact, they might be totally unrelated.
People, objects or events that are similar to each other also tend to be grouped together. The greater the
similarity, the greater the probability we will tend to perceive them as a group.
Characteristics of the Situation
The situation in which the interaction between the perceiver and the target takes place has an influence on the
perceiver's impression of the target. For example, a professor may not notice his 20-year-old female student
in a bikini at the swimming pool. Yet the professor will notice the same girl if she comes to his organizational
behaviour class in a bikini. In the same way, meeting a manager in his or her office affects your impression in
a certain way that may contrast with the impression you would form had you met the manager in a restaurant.
The strength of the situational cues also affects social perception. Some situations provide strong cues as to
appropriate behaviour. In these situations, we assume that the individual's behaviour can be accounted for by
the situation, and that it may not reflect the individual's disposition. This is the discounting principle in social
perception. For example, you mayen counter an automobile sales person who has a warm and personable
manner, asks you about your work and hobbies, and seems genuinely interested in your taste in cars. Can you
 assume that this behaviour reflects the sales person's personality? You probably cannot, because of the
influence of the situation. This person is trying to sell you a car, and in this particular situation he probably
treats all customers in this manner.
Factors that Influence Perception

2.3 Attribution theory rules for determining attribution

In social psychology, attribution is the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviors. In real life,
attribution is something we all do every day, usually without any awareness of the underlying processes and
biases that lead to our inferences.
Definition of attribution theory. psychology. : a theory that attempts to explain the interpretive process by
which people make judgments about the causes of their own behavior and the behavior of others After studying
how people explain others' behavior, Fritz Heider (1958) proposed an attribution theory.
Attribution theory is important for organizations because it can help managers understand some of the
causes of employee behavior and can assist employees in understanding their thinking about their own
behaviors.
Heider believed that both internal forces i.e. personal attributes such as ability, effort, and fatigue and external
forces i.e. environment attributes such as rules and the weather combine additively to determine behaviour.

Frequently Used Shortcuts in judging others: Perceiving and interpreting what others do is burdensome. As
a result, individuals develop techniques for making the task more manageable. These techniques are not fool
proof. Several factors lead us to form inaccurate impressions of others. These barriers to perception are
inaccurate impressions of others. These barriers to perception are
1. Selective Perception: We receive a vast amount of information. Therefore, it is impossible for us to
assimilate everything we see - on eye certain stimuli can be taken. That is why their boss may reprimand
some employees for doing something that when done by another employee goes unnoticed. Since, we can't
observe everything going on about us, we engage in selective perception.
 Selective perception is also out tendency to choose information that supports our view points; Individuals
often ignore information that makes them feel uncomfortable or threatens their view points.
Selective perception allows us to "speed-read" others, but not without the risk of drawing an inaccurate
picture. Because we see what we want to see, we can draw unwarranted conclusions from an ambiguous,
perception tends to be influenced more by an individual's attitudes, interests, and background than by the
stimulus itself.
2. Stereotype: A stereotype is a generalization about a group of people. When we judge someone on the basis
of our perception of the group to which he or she belongs, we are using the shortcut called stereo typing.
Stereo types reduce information about other people to a workable level, and they are efficient for compiling
and using information. It is a means of simplifying a complex world and it permits us to maintain
consistency. It is less difficult to deal with an unmanageable number of stimuli if we use stereo types.
Stereo types can be accurate, and when they are accurate, they can be useful perceptual guidelines.
However, most of the times stereotypes are inaccurate.
Attractiveness is a powerful stereo type. We assume that attractive individuals are also warm, kind,
sensitive, poised, sociable, outgoing, independent, and strong. Are attractive people sociable, outgoing,
independent, and strong? Are attractive people really like this? Certainly, all of them are not.
In organizations, we frequently hear comments that represent stereo types based on gender, age, nationality
etc. From a perceptual stand point, if people expect to see this stereo type, that is what they will perceive,
whether it's accurate or not.
3. Halo Effect: The halo error in perception is very similar to stereo typing. Where as in stereo typing the
person is perceived according to a single category, under the halo effect the person is perceived on the basis
of one trait.
When we draw a general impression about an individual based on a single characteristic, such as
intelligence, sociability or appearance, a halo effect is operating. The propensity for the halo effect to
operate is not random. Research suggests it is likely to be most extreme when the traits to be perceived are
ambiguous in behavioural terms, when the traits have moral over tones, and when the perceiver is judging
traits with which he or she has limited experience. Example of halo effect is the extremely attractive women
secretary who is perceived by her male boss as being an intelligent, good performer, when, in fact, she is a
poor typist.
4. First-impression error: Individuals place a good deal of importance on first impressions. First impressions
are lasting impressions. We tend to remember what we perceive first about a person, and some times we
are quite reluctant to change our initial impressions. First - impression error means the tendency to form
lasting opinions about an individual based on initial perceptions. Primacy effects can be particularly
dangerous in interviews, given that we form first impressions quickly and that these impressions may be
the basis for long-term employment relationships.
5. Contrast Effect: Stimuli that contrast with the surrounding environment are more likely to be selected for
attention than the stimuli that blends in. A contrasting effect can be caused by colour, size or any other
factor that is unusual (any factor that distinguishes one stimulus from others at present). For example, a
man walking down the street with a pair of crutches is more attention getting than a common man. A
contrast effect is the evaluation of a person's characteristics that are affected by comparisons with other
people recently encountered that rank higher or lower on the same characteristics. The "contrast" principle
essentially states that external stimuli that stands out against the background or which are not what are
expecting well receive their attention. The contrast effect also explains why a male students tands out in a
crowd of female students. There is nothing unusual about the male students but, when surrounded by
females, he stands out.
An illustration of how contrast effects operate in an interview situation in which one sees a pool of job
applicants. Distortions in any given candidate's evaluation can occur as a result of his or her place in the
 interview schedule. The candidate is likely to receive a more favourable evaluation if preceded by mediocre
applicants, and a less favourable evaluation if preceded by strong applicants.
6. Projection: It is easy to judge others if we assume, they are similar to us. This tendency to attribute one's
own characteristics to other people is called projection.
Projection can distort perceptions made about others. People who engage in projection tend to perceive
others. According to what they are like rather than according to what the person being observed is really
like. When managers engage in projection, they compromise their ability to respond to individual
differences.
They tend to see people as more homogeneous than they really are.
7. Implicit Personality Theories: We tend to have our own mini-theories about how people look and behave.
These theories help us organize our perceptions and take shortcuts instead of integrating new information
all the time. Implicit-personality theory is opinions formed about other people that are based on our own
mini theories about how people behave. For example we believe that girls dressed in fashionable clothes
will like modern music and girls dressed in traditional dress like saree will like Indian classical music.
These implicit personality theories are barriers because they limit out ability to take in new information
when it is available.
8. Self-Fulfilling Prophecies: Self-fulfilling prophecies are the situation in which our expectations about
people affect our interaction with them in such a way that our expectations are fulfilled. Self -fulfilling
prophecy is also known as the Pygmalion effect, named after a sculptor in Greek mythology who carved
a statue of a girl that came to life when he prayed for this wish and it was granted.

2.4 Personality definition

Man is not born a person. At birth he is an infant possessing the potentiality of becoming a person. After birth
he associates with other human beings and comes under the influence of their culture. As a result of a variety
of experiences and social influences he becomes a person and comes to possess a personality.
The term ‘personality’ is derived from the Latin word ‘persona’ which means a mask. According to K. Young,
“Personality is a …. patterned body of habits, traits, attitudes and ideas of an individual, as these are organised
externally into roles and statuses, and as they relate internally to motivation, goals, and various aspects of
selfhood.” G. W. Allport defined it as “a person’s pattern of habits, attitudes, and traits which determine his
adjustment to his environment.”

According to Robert E. Park and Earnest W. Burgess, personality is “the sum and organisation of those traits
which determine the role of the individual in the group.” Herbert A. Bloch defined it as “the characteristic
organisation of the individual’s habits, attitudes, values, emotional characteristics……. which imparts
consistency to the behaviour of the individual.” According to Arnold W. Green, “personality is the sum of a
person’s values (the objects of his striving, such as ideas, prestige, power and sex) plus his non- physical traits
(his habitual ways of acting and reacting).” According to Linton, personality embraces the total “organised
aggregate of psychological processes and status pertaining to the individual.”

Personality, as we understand it, says MacIver, “is all that an individual is and has experienced so far as this
“all” can be comprehended as unity.” According to Lundberg and others, “The term personality refers to the
habits, attitudes, and other social traits that are characteristic of a given individual’s behaviour.” By personality
Ogburn means “the integration of the socio psychological behaviour of the human being, represented by habits
of action and feeling, attitudes and opinions.” Davis regards personality “a psychic phenomenon which is
neither organic nor social but an emergent from a combination of the two.”
To sum up we would say that:
(i) Personality is not related to bodily structure alone. It includes both structure and dynamics

(ii) Personality is an indivisible unit.

(iii) Personality is neither good nor bad.

(iv) Personality is not a mysterious phenomenon.

(v) Every personality is unique.

(vi) Personality refers to persistent qualities of the individual. It expresses consistency and regularly.

(vii) Personality is acquired.

(viii) Personality is influenced by social interaction. It is defined in terms of behaviour.

2.5 Determinants of Personality:

Personality is a result of the combination of four factors, i.e., physical environment, heredity, culture, and
particular experiences. Here we discuss each factor determining personality separately.

Personality and Environment:

Above we described the influence of physical environment on culture and pointed out that geographical
environment sometimes determines cultural variability. That the Eskimos have a culture different from that of
the Indians is due to the fact that the former have a geography different from the latter. Man comes to form
ideas and attitudes according to the physical environment he lives in. To the extent that the physical
environment determines cultural development and to the extent, that culture in turn determines personality, a
relationship between personality and environment becomes clear. Some two thousand years ago, Aristotle
claimed that people living in Northern Europe were owing to a cold climate, full of spirit but lacking in
intelligence and skill. The natives of Asia, on the other hand, are intelligent and inventive but lack in spirit,
and are, therefore, slaves.

Montesquieu, in the eighteenth century, claimed that the bravery of those blessed by a cold climate enables
them to maintain their liberties. Great heat enervates courage while cold causes a certain vigour of body and
mind. At high temperatures, it is said there is disinclination to work and so civilizations have grown up where
the temperatures have been average near or below the optimum.

The people of mountains as well as deserts are usually bold, hard and powerful. Huntington’s discussion of
the effects of physical environment on man’s attitudes and mental make-up is very exhaustive. However, as
told previously, the physical conditions are more permissive and limiting factors than causative factors. They
set the limits within which personality can develop.

Heredity and Personality:

Heredity is another factor determining human personality. Some of the similarities in man’s personality are
said to be due to his common heredity. Every human group inherits the same general set of biological needs
and capacities. These common needs and capacities explain some of our similarities in personality. Man
originates from the union of male and female germ cells into a single cell which is formed at the moment of
conception.

He tends to resemble his parents in physical appearance and intelligence. The nervous system, the organic
drives and the duchess glands have a great bearing upon personality. They determine whether an individual
will be vigorous or feeble, energetic or lethargic, idiot of intelligent, coward or courageous.
Personality and Culture:

There can be little doubt that culture largely determines the types of personality that will predominate in the
particular group. According to some thinkers, personality is the subjective aspect of culture. They regard
personality and culture as two sides of the same coin.

Spiro has observed, ‘The development of personality and the acquisition of culture are not different processes,
but one and the same learning process.” Personality is an individual aspect of culture, while culture is a
collective aspect of personality.” Each culture produces its special type or types of personality.

In 1937 the anthropologist Ralph Linton and the psychoanalyst Abram Kardinar began a series of joint
explorations of the relationship between culture and personality by subjecting to minute study reports of
several primitive societies and one modern American village. Their studies have demonstrated that each
culture tends to create and is supported by a “basic personality type.” A given cultural environment sets its
participant members off from other human beings operating under different cultural environments.

Personality and Particular Experiences:

Personality is also determined by another factor, namely, the particular and unique experiences. There are two
types of experiences one, those that stem from continuous association with one’s group, second, those that
arise suddenly and are not likely to recur. The type of people who meet the child daily has a major influence
on his personality. The personality of parents does more to affect a child’s personality.

If the parents are kind, tolerant of boyish pranks, interested in athletics and anxious to encourage their child’s
separate interests the child will have a different experience and there shall be different influence on his
personality than the one when the parents are unkind, quick tempered and arbitrary. In the home is fashioned
the style of personality that will by and large characterise the individual throughout his life.

Social rituals,’ ranging from table manners to getting along with others, are consciously inculcated in the child
by parents. The child picks up the language of his parents. Problems of psychological and emotional
adjustments arise and are solved appropriately by each child in terms of the cultural values and standards of
the family. The family set up tends to bring the child into contact with his play-mates and teachers. What his
play-game members are, and his school teachers are will also determine his personality development.

2.6 Personality traits- “the big five model”

The Big Five personality traits was the model to comprehend the relationship between personality and
academic behaviors. This model was defined by several independent sets of researchers who used factor
analysis of verbal descriptors of human behavior. These researchers began by studying relationships between
a large number of verbal descriptors related to personality traits. They reduced the lists of these descriptors by
5–10 fold and then used factor analysis to group the remaining traits (using data mostly based upon people's
estimations, in self-report questionnaire and peer ratings) in order to find the underlying factors of personality.

The initial model was advanced by Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal in 1961, but failed to reach an
academic audience until the 1980s. In 1990, J.M. Digman advanced his five-factor model of personality, which
Lewis Goldberg extended to the highest level of organization. These five overarching domains have been
found to contain and subsume most known personality traits and are assumed to represent the basic structure
behind all personality traits.
Each of the Big Five personality traits contains two separate, but correlated, aspects reflecting a level of
personality below the broad domains but above the many facet scales that are also part of the Big Five. The
aspects are labeled as follows: Volatility and Withdrawal for Neuroticism; Enthusiasm and Assertiveness for
Extraversion; Intellect and Openness for Openness to Experience; Industriousness and Orderliness for
Conscientiousness; and Compassion and Politeness for Agreeableness.

Descriptions of the particular personality traits

Openness to experience
Openness is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and
variety of experience. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, open to emotion, sensitive
to beauty and willing to try new things. They tend to be, when compared to closed people, more creative and
more aware of their feelings. They are also more likely to hold unconventional beliefs. High openness can be
perceived as unpredictability or lack of focus, and more likely to engage in risky behavior or drug-taking.
Moreover, individuals with high openness are said to pursue self-actualization specifically by seeking out
intense, euphoric experiences. Conversely, those with low openness seek to gain fulfillment through
perseverance and are characterized as pragmatic and data-driven—sometimes even perceived to be dogmatic
and closed-minded. Some disagreement remains about how to interpret and contextualize the openness factor.

Sample items
 I have excellent ideas.
 I am quick to understand things.
 I use difficult words.
 I am full of ideas.
 I am not interested in abstractions. (reversed)
 I do not have a good imagination. (reversed)
 I have difficulty understanding abstract ideas. (reversed)

Conscientiousness
Conscientiousness is a tendency to display self-discipline, act dutifully, and strive for achievement against
measures or outside expectations. It is related to the way in which people control, regulate, and direct their
impulses. High conscientiousness is often perceived as being stubborn and focused. Low conscientiousness is
associated with flexibility and spontaneity, but can also appear as sloppiness and lack of reliability. High
scores on conscientiousness indicate a preference for planned rather than spontaneous behavior. The average
level of conscientiousness rises among young adults and then declines among older adults.

Sample items
 I am always prepared.
 I pay attention to details.
 I get chores done right away.
 I like order.
 I follow a schedule.
 I am exacting in my work.
 I never forget my belongings.
 I always end up being helpful to most things.
 I often remember where I last put my things.
 I give attention to my duties.
Extraversion
Extraversion is characterized by breadth of activities (as opposed to depth), surgency from external
activity/situations, and energy creation from external means. The trait is marked by pronounced engagement
with the external world. Extraverts enjoy interacting with people, and are often perceived as full of energy.
They tend to be enthusiastic, action-oriented individuals. They possess high group visibility, like to talk, and
assert themselves. Extraverted people may appear more dominant in social settings, as opposed to introverted
people in this setting.

Introverts have lower social engagement and energy levels than extraverts. They tend to seem quiet, low-key,
deliberate, and less involved in the social world. Their lack of social involvement should not be interpreted as
shyness or depression; instead they are more independent of their social world than extraverts. Introverts need
less stimulation, and more time alone than extraverts. This does not mean that they are unfriendly or antisocial;
rather, they are reserved in social situations.

Generally, people are a combination of extraversion and introversion, with personality psychologist Eysenck
suggesting that these traits are connected somehow to our central nervous system.

Sample items
 I am the life of the party.
 I don't mind being the center of attention.
 I feel comfortable around people.
 I start conversations.
 I talk to a lot of different people at parties.
 I don't talk a lot. (reversed)
 I think a lot before I speak or act. (reversed)
 I don't like to draw attention to myself. (reversed)
 I am quiet around strangers. (reversed)
 I have no intention of talking in large crowds. (reversed)

Agreeableness
The agreeableness trait reflects individual differences in general concern for social harmony. Agreeable
individuals value getting along with others. They are generally considerate, kind, generous, trusting and
trustworthy, helpful, and willing to compromise their interests with others. Agreeable people also have an
optimistic view of human nature.

Disagreeable individuals place self-interest above getting along with others. They are generally unconcerned
with others' well-being, and are less likely to extend themselves for other people. Sometimes their skepticism
about others' motives causes them to be suspicious, unfriendly, and uncooperative. Low agreeableness
personalities are often competitive or challenging people, which can be seen as argumentative or
untrustworthy.

Because agreeableness is a social trait, research has shown that one's agreeableness positively correlates with
the quality of relationships with one's team members. Agreeableness also positively predicts transformational
leadership skills. In a study conducted among 169 participants in leadership positions in a variety of
professions, individuals were asked to take a personality test and have two evaluations completed by directly
supervised subordinates. Leaders with high levels of agreeableness were more likely to be considered
transformational rather than transactional. Although the relationship was not strong, (r=0.32, β=0.28, p<0.01)
it was the strongest of the Big Five traits. However, the same study showed no predictive power of leadership
effectiveness as evaluated by the leader's direct supervisor.
Conversely, agreeableness has been found to be negatively related to transactional leadership in the military.
A study of Asian military units showed leaders with a high level of agreeableness to be more likely to receive
a low rating for transformational leadership skills. Therefore, with further research, organizations may be able
to determine an individual's potential for performance based on their personality traits. For instance, in their
journal article "Which Personality Attributes Are Most Important in the Workplace?" Paul Sackett and Philip
Walmsley claim that conscientiousness and agreeableness are “important to success across many different
jobs."

Sample items[edit]
 I am interested in people.
 I sympathize with others' feelings.
 I have a soft heart.
 I take time out for others.
 I feel others' emotions.
 I make people feel at ease.
 I am not really interested in others. (reversed)
 I insult people. (reversed)
 I am not interested in other people's problems. (reversed)
 I feel little concern for others. (reversed)

Neuroticism
Neuroticism is the tendency to experience negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, or depression. It is
sometimes called emotional instability, or is reversed and referred to as emotional stability. According to
Eysenck's (1967) theory of personality, neuroticism is interlinked with low tolerance for stress or aversive
stimuli. Neuroticism is a classic temperament trait that has been studied in temperament research for decades,
before it was adapted by the FFM. Those who score high in neuroticism are emotionally reactive and
vulnerable to stress, also tending to be flippant in the way they express emotion. They are more likely to
interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and minor frustrations as hopelessly difficult. Their negative
emotional reactions tend to persist for unusually long periods of time, which means they are often in a bad
mood. For instance, neuroticism is connected to a pessimistic approach toward work, confidence that work
impedes personal relationships, and apparent anxiety linked with work. Furthermore, those who score high on
neuroticism may display more skin-conductance reactivity than those who score low on neuroticism. These
problems in emotional regulation can diminish the ability of a person scoring high on neuroticism to think
clearly, make decisions, and cope effectively with stress. Lacking contentment in one's life achievements can
correlate with high neuroticism scores and increase one's likelihood of falling into clinical depression.
Moreover, individuals high in neuroticism tend to experience more negative life events, but neuroticism also
changes in response to positive and negative life experiences. Also, individuals with higher levels of
neuroticism tend to have worse psychological well being.

At the other end of the scale, individuals who score low in neuroticism are less easily upset and are less
emotionally reactive. They tend to be calm, emotionally stable, and free from persistent negative feelings.
Freedom from negative feelings does not mean that low-scorers experience a lot of positive feelings.

Neuroticism is similar but not identical to being neurotic in the Freudian sense (i.e., neurosis.) Some
psychologists prefer to call neuroticism by the term emotional instability to differentiate it from the term
neurotic in a career test.

Sample items
 I get irritated easily.
  I get stressed out easily.
 I get upset easily.
 I have frequent mood swings.
 I worry about things.
 I am much more anxious than most people.
 I am relaxed most of the time. (reversed)
 I seldom feel blue. (reversed)

2.7 Type A and type B personalities.

Type A and Type B personality hypothesis describes two contrasting personality types. In this hypothesis,
personalities that are more competitive, highly organized, ambitious, impatient, highly aware of time
management and/or aggressive are labelled Type A, while more relaxed, less 'neurotic', 'frantic', 'explainable',
personalities are labelled Type B.
The two cardiologists who developed this theory came to believe that Type A personalities had a greater
chance of developing coronary heart disease. Following the results of further studies and considerable
controversy about the role of the tobacco industry funding of early research in this area, some reject, either
partially or completely, the link between Type A personality and coronary disease. Nevertheless, this research
had a significant effect on the development of the health psychology field, in which psychologists look at how
an individual's mental state affects physical health.
Type A
The hypothesis describes Type A individuals as outgoing, ambitious, rigidly organized, highly status-
conscious, impatient, anxious, proactive, and concerned with time management. People with Type A
personalities are often high-achieving "workaholics". They push themselves with deadlines, and hate both
delays and ambivalence. People with Type A personalities experience more job-related stress and less job
satisfaction. Interestingly, those with Type A personalities do not always outperform those with Type B
personalities. Depending on the task and the individual's sense of time urgency and control, it can lead to poor
results when there are complex decisions to be made. However, research has shown that Type A individuals
are in general associated with higher performance and productivity (Barling & Charbonneau, 1992; Bermudez,
Perez-Garcia, & Sanchez-Elvira, 1990; Glass, 1977). Moreover, Type A students tend to earn higher grades
than Type B students (Waldron et al., 1980), and Type A faculty members were shown to be more productive
than their Type B behavior counterparts (Taylor, Locke, Lee, & Gist, 1984).
Type A behavior is expressed through three major symptoms: (1) free-floating hostility, which can be triggered
by even minor incidents; (2) time urgency and impatience, which causes irritation and exasperation usually
described as being "short-fused"; and (3) a competitive drive, which causes stress and an achievement-driven
mentality. The first of these symptoms is believed to be covert and therefore less observable, while the other
two are more overt.
Type A people were said to be hasty, impatient, impulsive, hyperalert, potentially hostile, and angry. Research
has also shown that Type A personalities deal with reality and have certain defences when it comes to dealing
with problems.
Type B
Type B is a behavior pattern that is lacking in Type A behaviors. A-B personality is a continuum where one
either leans to be more Type A or Non-Type A (Type B).
The hypothesis describes Type B individuals as a contrast to those of Type A. Type B personality, by
definition, are noted to live at lower stress levels. They typically work steadily, and may enjoy achievement,
although they have a greater tendency to disregard physical or mental stress when they do not achieve. When
faced with competition, they may focus less on winning or losing than their Type A counterparts, and more
on enjoying the game regardless of winning or losing. Unlike the Type A personality's rhythm of multi-tasked
careers, Type B individuals are sometimes attracted to careers of creativity: writer, counsellor, therapist, actor
or actress. Their personal character may enjoy exploring ideas and concepts.
Type B personality types are more tolerant than individuals in the Type A category. This can be evident
through their relationship style that members of upper management prefer. Type B individuals can "...see
things from a global perspective, encourage teamwork, and exercise patience in decision making..."
Interactions between Type A and Type B
Type A individuals' proclivity for competition and aggression is illustrated in their interactions with other
Type As and with Type Bs. When playing a modified Prisoner's Dilemma game, Type A individuals elicited
more competitiveness and angry feelings from both Type A and Type B opponents than did the Type B
individuals. Type A individuals punished their Type A counterparts more than their Type B counterparts, and
more than Type Bs punished other Type Bs. Rivalry between Type A individuals was shown by more
aggressive behavior in their interactions, including initial antisocial responses, refusal to cooperate, verbal
threats, and behavioral challenges.

2.8 Personality with reference to national culture

Our culture greatly contributes to the development of our beliefs and values. For this reason, both cultural
psychologists and social anthropologists believe that culture affects one's personality. In addition, gender
differences also influence the personality traits a person possesses. Western ideas about personality may not
be applicable to other cultures. In fact, there is evidence that the strength of personality traits varies across
cultures. Individualist cultures and collectivist cultures place emphasis on different basic values.

The five personality factors identified in the Big-Five model appear in almost all cross-cultural studies. This
includes a wide variety of diverse culture such as China, Israel, Germany, Japan. Differences tend to surface
by the emphasis on dimensions and whether countries are predominantly individualistic or collectivist.
Chinese, for example use the category of conscientiousness more often and use the category of agreeableness
less often than do Americans. And the Big Five appear to predict a bit better in individualistic culture than in
collectivist. But there is a surprisingly high amount of agreement, especially among individuals from
developed countries. As a case in point, a comprehensive review of studies covering people from the 15-nation
European Community found that conscientiousness was valid predictor of performance across jobs and
occupational groups.
There are no common personality types for a given country. You can, instance, find high and low risk-takers
in almost any culture. Yet a country culture influences the dominant personality characteristics of its
population. We can see this by looking at locus of control and the Type A personality

There is evidence that cultures differ in terms of people relationship to their environment. In some cultures,
such as those in North America, people believe that they can dominate their environment. People in other
societies, such as Middle Eastern countries, believe that life is essentially preordained. Note the close parallel
to internal and external locus of control. We should expect, therefore, a larger proportion of internals in the
American and Canadian workforce than in the Saudi Arabian or Iranian workforce.

The prevalence of Type A personalities will be somewhat influenced by the culture which a person grows up.
There are Type A in every country, but there will be more in capitalistic countries, where achievement and
material success are highly valued.. It is estimated that about 50 percent of the North American population is
Type A . This percentage should be too surprising. The United States and Canada both have a high emphasis
on time management and efficiency.. Both have cultures that stress accomplishments and acquisition of money
and material goods. In cultures such as Sweden and France, where materialism is less revered, we would
predict a smaller proportion of Type A personalities.

2.9 Definition of Learning

Learning can be defined as the permanent change in behavior due to direct and indirect experience. It means
change in behavior, attitude due to education and training, practice and experience. It is completed by
acquisition of knowledge and skills, which are relatively permanent.

Nature of Learning

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

Factors Affecting Learning

Learning is based upon some key factors that decide what changes will be caused by this experience. The
key elements or the major factors that affect learning are motivation, practice, environment, and mental
group.
Coming back to these factors let us have a look on these factors −
 Motivation − The encouragement, the support one gets to complete a task, to achieve a goal is known
as motivation. It is a very important aspect of learning as it acts gives us a positive energy to complete
a task. Example − The coach motivated the players to win the match.
 Practice − We all know that ”Practice makes us perfect”. In order to be a perfectionist or at least
complete the task, it is very important to practice what we have learnt. Example − We can be a
programmer only when we execute the codes we have written.
 Environment − We learn from our surroundings, we learn from the people around us. They are of
two types of environment – internal and external. Example − A child when at home learns from the
family which is an internal environment, but when sent to school it is an external environment.
  Mental group − It describes our thinking by the group of people we chose to hang out with. In simple
words, we make a group of those people with whom we connect. It can be for a social cause where
people with the same mentality work in the same direction. Example − A group of readers, travelers,
etc.
These are the main factors that influence what a person learns, these are the root level for our behavior and
everything we do is connected to what we learn.
2.10 Steps of Learning
The idea is that learners are not aware of how little or much they know. They go through the four (or five)
stages listed below, depending on how much they know about a given topic or skill. In the end, the learner
will be able to use the knowledge or skill without having to think about what they’re doing. It is important to
keep these stages in mind when developing eLearning because different learners will be at different stages.

1) Unconscious Incompetence
In this stage, the learner does not have a skill or knowledge set yet. They do not see any reason to learn it
because they don’t consider it a need. You don’t know what you don’t know. For example, as a very young
child you do not yet realize the usefulness of riding a bike. As an educator, it is important to work with the
marketing department on how to best market learning offerings to those in this stage. (Check out this blog
post on how education and marketing must work together in eLearning). They may or may not realize the
benefits of your education yet, but the objective is to reveal that there ARE benefits. If you introduce potential
learners to your offerings, they may realize that they CAN gain value from those skills and knowledge sets
and reach stage two, conscious incompetence.
2) Conscious Incompetence
By the second stage the learner is aware of the skill that they lack and can understand that there is a deficit.
Ignorance is no longer bliss. Ideally, this is who should be signing up for the majority of your online
courses. In this stage, the learner wants to learn because they are aware of their lack of knowledge and it
makes them uneasy. Selling courses to this demographic should be easiest.

3) Conscious Competence
The conscious competence stage takes place when a learner has acquired a skill but has not yet mastered it to
the point where it comes naturally. Imagine you are have learned the steps to riding the bike, but you still need
to go through the steps when getting on the bike, or you need training wheels. This is when the learner usually
needs testing, instructors, or other tools to hold their hand through it, or even talking themselves through the
steps. At this point the learner uses your online courses to gain fluency in the skills and become an engaged
learner who wants to reach the fourth stage. Think of this learner as a student studying for a test. They feel
prepared but sometimes still rely on flash cards.

4) Unconscious Competence
You know the phrase, “It’s like riding a bike. You never forget how to do it.” The fourth stage of learning
encompasses just that: you know it so well you don’t even realize you are doing it. The skill is so embedded
that the learner doesn’t even need to process what they are doing. Issues can arise when you combine
unconscious competence learners with unconscious incompetence learners because neither of them can
articulate the skill.

5) Fifth stage
Some theorists believe there is a fifth stage as well — “conscious competence of unconscious competence.”
In this stage the learner is able to relate to learners in stages 1-4 enough to teach them. A stage five learner
has reached a point where they can reflect on how they reached their level of mastery. This means that they
 can empathize with learners in other stages. In your organization, your super volunteers or SMEs are the most
likely to be “fifth stagers.” They can be useful in mentoring new members or providing guidance.

Q.1 Define Perceptions. What are the factors influencing perception?

Q.2 Describe the various barriers of the perceptions.
Q.3 Define personality and explain the various personality determinants.
Q.4 Describe personality traits- the big five model.
Q.5 What is type A & type B personalities.
Q.6 Explain the personality with reference to national culture.
Q.7 Define Learning. What are the factors of learning?
Q.8 Explain the steps of learning.

Chapter-3 Values Attitude and Emotions

3.1 Values Definition, - Ethical values, -Cultural values

Values defined in Organizational Behavior as the collective conceptions of what is considered good,
desirable, and proper or bad, undesirable, and improper in a culture. Some common business values are
fairness, innovations and community involvement.

According to M. Haralambos, “A value is a belief that something is good and desirable”.

According to R.K. Mukherjee, “Values are socially approved desires and goals that are internalized through
the process of conditioning, learning or socialization and that become subjective preferences, standards, and
aspirations”.

According to Zaleznik and David, “Values are the ideas in the mind of men compared to norms in that they
specify how people should behave. Values also attach degrees of goodness to activities and relationships”

The characteristics of values are:

 These are extremely practical, and valuation requires not just techniques but also an understanding of the
strategic context.

 These can provide standards of competence and morality.

 These can go beyond specific situations or persons.

 Personal values can be influenced by culture, tradition, and a combination of internal and external factors.

 These are relatively permanent.

 These are more central to the core of a person.

 Most of our core values are learned early in life from family, friends, neighborhood school, the mass print,
visual media and other sources within the society.

Ethical values
Ethical values are those values that people use to determine what is right and wrong in different, random
situations. Different people have different ethical values. There are many ethical values. Justice, honesty,
empathy, compassion, respect and responsibility are the most important ones. Trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship — are six core ethical values.
Cultural Values

Cultural values are the core principles and ideals upon which an entire community exists. This is made up
of several parts: customs, which are traditions and rituals; values, which are beliefs; and culture, which is
all of a group's guiding values

Our values inform our thoughts, words and actions.

Our values are important because they help us to grow and develop. They help us to create the future we
want to experience. Every individual and every organisation is involved in making hundreds of decisions
every day.

Cultural variation refers to the rich diversity in social practices that different cultures exhibit around the
world. Cuisine and art all change from one culture to the next, but so do gender roles, economic systems,
and social hierarchy among any number of other humanly organised behaviours.

3.2 Values in the work place, cultural differences, generational differences.

Author Robert L. Dilenschneider, in an article for "The Huffington Post," suggests developing a short list of
your top four or five workplace values. The reason for keeping the list short, Dilenschneider says, is because
when you have a long list of values, you tend to lose focus on them. Some good candidates for your list of
values include integrity, accountability, diligence, perseverance and discipline. When you consider each of
these five values, you should find that none of them conflict with others. Having integrity, for example, doesn't
preclude you from being accountable, working diligently or being disciplined.
As a manager, if you expect your employees to subscribe to a specific list of values in the workplace, you not
only need to work with these values in mind yourself, you need to specify what they are and communicate
these values often. Many companies will list their core values in a corporate mission statement, often
plasticized and posted in the lobby, but, if you don't speak about these values using real examples, such as
what to do when a client faces a problem, they are unlikely to sink into the working environment.

The Importance of Workplace Values

Your workplace values are the guiding principles that are most important to you about the way that you work.
You use these deeply held principles to choose between right and wrong ways of working, and they help you
make important decisions and career choices.

Some (possibly conflicting) examples of workplace values include:

 Being accountable.

 Making a difference.

 Focusing on detail.

 Delivering quality.

 Being completely honest.

 Keeping promises.

 Being reliable.

 Being positive.
  Meeting deadlines.

 Helping others.

 Being a great team member.

 Respecting company policy and rules, and respecting others.

 Showing tolerance.

Your organization's workplace values set the tone for your company's culture, and they identify what your
organization, as a whole, cares about. It's important that your people's values align with these.

When this happens, people understand one another, everyone does the right things for the right reasons, and
this common purpose and understanding helps people build great working relationships. Values alignment
helps the organization as a whole to achieve its core mission.

When values are out of alignment, people work towards different goals, with different intentions, and with
different outcomes. This can damage work relationships, productivity, job satisfaction, and creative potential.

The most important thing that you need to do when interviewing someone is understand his or her workplace
values. After all, you can train people to cover skills gaps, and you can help people gain experience. But it's
really hard to get people to change their values; and they will be "problem workers" until they do.

Cultural differences

Ways to understand cultural differences

 Become self-aware. Work out your own beliefs, values and personal biases. ...
 Do your own research. ...
 Talk to someone from a different cultural background. ...
 Travel! ...
 Be more accepting. ...
 Don't stereotype. ...
 Everyone is unique.
Some examples of cultural differences as they pertain to the workplace include employees who are younger
or older than their co-workers, employees who hold higher degrees than others in the workplace and
individuals who grew up in either metropolitan areas or small towns.

Here are 5 ways to overcome cultural barriers and embrace cultural difference:
1. Ensure clear and polite communication.
2. Learn about different cultures.
3. Work towards accommodating cultural difference.
4. Share knowledge.
5. Employ diversity training.
Cultural diversity is important because our country, workplaces, and schools increasingly consist of various
cultural, racial, and ethnic groups. We can learn from one another, but first we must have a level of
understanding about each other in order to facilitate collaboration and cooperation
 Generational differences.

A generation is a group of individuals within a particular age range who may have similar ideas, attitudes,
values, etc. Having varied generations represented in a working environment is another form of diversity.
There appear to be differences in the values, beliefs and opinions between different generations of people. ...
A generation gap or generational gap is a difference of opinions between one generation and another
regarding beliefs, politics, or values.
Understanding each other's views and values will allow different generations to increase their appreciation
of one another. ... Each generation has its own unique perspective, challenges, and contributions, and we can
all grow by listening to and learning from people who are different than us.

Overview of tips on how to manage generational diversity in the workplace

1. Adapt your recruiting strategies.
2. Avoid making age-based assumptions & stereotyping.
3. Listen to your employees and find out what they want.
4. Customize your approach for each employee.
5. Adopt varying communication styles.

3.3 Attitude definition

Attitude refers to feelings, beliefs and behavior predispositions directed towards people, groups, ideas or
objects. It influences the behavior of the individuals. It decides how to act or behave in a particular situation.
... Everything in an organization will get better if the attitude of everyone gets better. Attitudes can be positive
or negative. Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs that can guide decisions and behavior. Implicit attitudes
are unconscious beliefs that can still influence decisions and behavior.
Behavioral (or conative) component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave. For
example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”. Cognitive component: this involves a person's belief
/ knowledge about an attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.
Attitude is manner, disposition, feeling and position with regard to a person or thing, tendency or
orientation especially in the mind.

According to Gordon Allport, “An attitude is a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through
experience, exerting a directive or dynamic influence upon the individual’s response to all objects and
situations with which it is related.”

Frank Freeman said, “An attitude is a dispositional readiness to respond to certain institutions, persons or
objects in a consistent manner which has been learned and has become one’s typical mode of response.”

Thurstone said, “An attitude denotes the sum total of man’s inclinations and feelings, prejudice or bias,
preconceived notions, ideas, fears, threats, and other any specific topic.”

Characteristics of Attitude are;

1. Attitudes are the complex combination of things we tend to call personality, beliefs, values, behaviors, and
motivations.
2. It can fall anywhere along a continuum from very favorable to very unfavorable.
3. All people, irrespective of their status or intelligence, hold attitudes.
4. An attitude exists in every person’s mind. It helps to define our identity, guide our actions, and influence how
we judge people.
5. Although the feeling and belief components of attitude are internal to a person, we can view a person’s attitude
from his or her resulting behavior.
6. Attitude helps us define how we see situations, as well as define how we behave toward the situation or object.
7. It provides us with internal cognitions or beliefs and thoughts about people and objects.
8. It can also be explicit and implicit. Explicit attitude is those that we are consciously aware of an implicit
attitude is unconscious, but still, have an effect on our behaviors.
9. Attitudes cause us to behave in a particular way toward an object or person.
10. An attitude is a summary of a person’s past experience; thus, an attitude is grounded in direct experience
predicts future behavior more accurately.

3.4 Satisfaction and Dis-satisfaction and its effect on efficiency.

“Take my people, but leave my factories, and soon the grass grows on the factory floors. Take away my
factories, but leave my people, and we will soon have a new and improved “plan – Andrew Carnegie (cited
by Brown, 1996)

Job satisfaction, in the words of Ivancevich and Matteson, 1990, is an attitude that individuals are related to
their jobs. It stems from their perception of their jobs. Several aspects of employment such as pay, promotion
opportunities and coworkers plays a role in forming the basis of job satisfaction. Also factors such as the
workplace such as the style of the supervisor, policies and procedures, etc. affect the level of job satisfaction.
It details other determinants of job satisfaction such as promotion, coworkers, management styles and policies
/ procedures. Job satisfaction is a feeling generally favorable or unfavorable and emotions with which
employees perceive their work. Job satisfaction is an emotional attitude and a sense of relative likes and
dislikes. It can be seen as an overall attitude or it can be applied to different parts of the work of an individual.

Motivator factors include: achievement, recognition, the job itself, responsibility, promotion and growth.
Hygiene factors include: pay and benefits (compensation), company policy and administration, relationship
with co-workers, supervision, status, job security, working conditions and personal life. Satisfaction is an act
of achieving the desired feelings, taste, fashion or anything that one had wished or desired for, the elements
of employee satisfactions are
 Appreciation for your work.
 Good relationships with colleagues.
 Good work-life balance.
 Good relationships with superiors.
 Company's financial stability.
 Learning and career development.
 Job security.
 Attractive fixed salary.
while dissatisfaction is where one expected desires is not fulfilled due to some unplanned or planned situations
that may come in between as the stumbling blocks.
Causes of Job Dissatisfaction are;
 Underpaid.
 Limited Career Growth.
 Lack of Interest.
 Poor Management.
 Unsupportive Boss.
 Lack of Meaningful Work.
 Opportunities for growth or incentives for meaningful work.
 Work and Life Balance.
This indicates that employee satisfaction does relate to productivity and profit in some companies. Other
studies show a relationship between the type of job, satisfaction and productivity. Generally, the more
demanding the job, the greater the satisfaction and the higher the productivity.

It is clear-cut that employee satisfaction leads to organizational success. Moreover, they result in the following
benefits: Higher Productivity. ... For example, companies like Google invest in employee support and
satisfaction to succeed in generating happier workers, which in turn, make for highly productive employees.

3.5 Emotions, Emotional quotient

Thinking rationally about the emotion before taking an action: Emotional decisions usually result in taking
incorrect actions. Here's a rundown of those seven universal emotions, what they look like, and why we're
biologically hardwired to express them this way: Anger, Fear, Disgust, Happiness, Sadness, Surprise,
Contempt etc. For example being angry can motivate you to do something that you regret later. Emotional
intelligence represents an ability to perceive, control and evaluate one's emotions and to use emotions to
enhance thought. Emotional Intelligence is an increasingly relevant to. organisational effectiveness and
developing employees. Daniel Goleman, an American psychologist, developed a framework of five elements
that define emotional intelligence:

 Self awareness. People with high EI understand their emotions and they don't let their feelings rule them. ...
 Self regulation. ...
 Motivation. ...
 Empathy. ...
 Social skills.
Emotional Quotient (EQ) is primarily your ability to understand other people and what motivates them as well
as your own motivations and emotional intelligence. In addition to this, the ability to monitor and manage your
own emotions also ties in with your level of emotional intelligence.
Emotionally intelligent people don't just understand emotions; they know what they're good at and what they're
terrible at. ... Having a high EQ means you know your strengths and you know how to lean into them and use
them to your full advantage while keeping your weaknesses from holding you back.
You need to have a brilliant IQ to be a good engineer, but to be a leader of engineers, your EQ matters more
than your IQ. IQ is the intellectual ability to manage ideas, knowledge and thoughts. EQ is the ability to
manage relationships with other people. EQ, success is strongly influenced by personal qualities such as
perseverance, self-control and skill in getting along with others. ... Workers with high EQ are better able to
work in teams, adjust to change and be flexible. Below are 10 ways to increase your EQ:
1. Utilize an assertive style of communicating. ...
2. Respond instead of reacting to conflict. ...
3. Utilize active listening skills. ...
4. Be motivated. ...
5. Practice ways to maintain a positive attitude. ...
6. Practice self-awareness. ...
7. Take critique well. ...
8. Empathize with others.

Q.1 Define Values. What are the characteristics of value?

Q.2 write short notes on 1) Ethical value & 2) Cultural value.
Q.3 Describe values in the work place, cultural differences and generational differences.
Q.4 Define Attitudes. Explain the characteristics of attitude.
Q.5 Describe the job satisfaction and dis-satisfaction and its effect on efficiency.
Q.6 What do you mean emotion? Describe the emotional quotient.

Chapter no. 4 Group dynamics & team building

What is a group?
A group refers to two or more individuals who have come together with a common objective. The members of
a group interact and are interdependent on each other with the view of achieving a objective. Groups are of 2
broad categories: formal group and informal group.
An organizational structure defines the formal groups with establishing a set of tasks and jobs. The main purpose
of forming formal groups is to help the organization achieve certain objectives. Examples of formal groups are
departmental teams, project groups who work as a group until the completion of the project, etc.
Informal groups are those groups that do not get their definition and formation by an organization. Informal
groups are neither formal structures or have an organizational determination.
They are simply a group of people who have come together in an informal manner to achieve a goal. Examples
of informal groups are family and related groups, friend groups, social peer groups, etc.

Why do people join groups?

People join groups and want to be a part of a group for one or more of the following reasons:

 To receive a sense of social security and safety.

 Being excluded from a group or not being a part of a group can pull down one’s status. Therefore, one of
the reasons is to satisfy the status demands.
 To have self-esteem is crucial for everyone in every part of the social strata.
 Affiliation to the idea of having a system to provide you with moral support and help you achieve goals.
 Being a part of a group often gives you a subtle sense of power.
 Last but not least, a group can help in the process of successful goal achievement.

The 5 Stages of Group Formation

Tuckman was responsible for coining the 5 main stages in the process of group discussion. They are also known
as Tuckman’s 5 stages of group development. Moreover, these stages of group formation are meant to be
followed in the exact sequence as they are below:
Forming
This is a beginning stage and lasts only a few days (or weeks). Members begin by planning their work and their
new roles. Moreover, the emotions here are positive. The groups should begin by learning about team processes
in preparation for the rough times ahead.
However, it is crucial for them to learn the aspects of conflict resolution, communication, group decision-making
and time management.
Storming
There exists a considerable amount of fights and arguments in this stage. People begin to feel the stress of
frustration, resentment, and anger. Moreover, as the problem festers, the job remains undone.
Managers also experience frustration and are worried about the situation, thereby, are tempted to intervene.
Members experience a drastic emotional roller coaster from elation to depression.
Moreover, the situation seems bleak. Usually, the storming period may last 1-2 months. Also, without effective
training and support, the team may experience retarded growth.
Conflicts are usually frowned upon. However, they are the definition of normal, natural, and even necessary
events in an organization. It is critical for the group to handle it well because they are great in helping to build
skill and confidence for the next stage
Norming
In the norming stage, the group works through individual and social issues. The group establishes its own norms
of behaviour and begin to trust each other. Moreover, as the group develops interpersonal skills, it becomes all
the more skilled.
Members begin the art and knack of problem-solving. They also cross-train and learn new and adequate job
skills. This stage usually lasts for 4-12 months.
Performing
In this stage, the group is ready to begin performing its respective task and assigned jobs. In this stage, the group
has become well acquainted with one another and has clarity with regard to what needs to and has to be done.
The performing stage begins when the group is comfortable to work and ends when the job is completed.
Adjourning
Post the performing stage, the group is adjourned. The adjourning stage ends the process of group formation.
Because the group is adjourned once the task that is assigned to the group is completed.

Group Dynamics:

The term ‘group dynamics’ is formed by the combination of the two words ‘group’ and ‘dynamics.’ While
‘group’ refers to two or more individuals sharing an explicit socio-psychological relationship, ‘dynamics’
refers to the forces within the group that shape the patterns of interaction between group members i.e., the
power or capacity of a group member to change or influence change in other members according to changed
circumstances.
There are 3 views about group dynamics:

1. First view describes how a group should be organized and conducted, stressing more on democratic
leadership and members’ participation.
2. Second view describes the techniques used in group dynamics, for instance, role playing, leaderless groups,
brainstorming, group therapy, transactional analysis etc.
3. Third view describes group dynamics from the perspective of internal nature of groups; the structure,
processes, reasons and methods of their formation, their influence within the group, with other groups and
with the organization.
The three views can be summarized by describing group dynamics as a study of the nature and development
of groups.

Group Cohesiveness:

Another characteristic of informal groups is group cohesiveness-the force that holds a group together. It is the
degree of unity in a group. The more is the unity between the group members, more is the power associated
with the group.
According to Walker, “Cohesiveness may be defined as the resultant power of a group to think and act as a
single unit in pursuit of a common objective.”
According to Likert, “Cohesiveness is the attractiveness of the members to the group or resistance of the
members to leaving it.”
According to Seashore, “Group cohesiveness is the attraction of the members to the group in terms of the
strength of forces on the individual members to remain active in the group and to resist leaving it.”
A cohesive group is one in which all the members work towards a common goal by taking responsibilities
voluntarily and leave no stone unturned in their efforts to achieve their common goal. An effective leader
plays a major role in keeping the members close knit, thereby increasing the group cohesiveness.

Group cohesiveness varies widely based on numerous factors-including the:

a. Size of the group-smaller groups has more cohesiveness.

b. Dependence of members upon the group-more the dependence more will be the group cohesiveness
c. Achievement of goals-If all members are in unison regarding achieving common goals, their group
cohesiveness increases the chances of their being successful in achieving their goals.
d. Status of the group-high status group has more loyal members that confirm to the norms of the group.
e. Management demands and pressures—group cohesiveness increases strongly whenever the membership
perceives a threat from the outside. This threat produces the high anxiety that strong group cohesiveness can
help reduce.
If the supervisor presses the group to conform to a new organizational norm that is viewed as a threat to the
security needs of group members, the group will become more unified in order to withstand the perceived
threat. With the passing of the threat the group tends to lose its cohesiveness.
Supervisors can use the factors that affect group cohesiveness in favour of the management. For instance, a
supervisor can involve the informal group members in the decision-making process.
Input from group members will not only reduce their feeling of alienation but also improve communication
between the supervisor and subordinates thereby reducing potential conflict. Where group participation in
decision making is not practical the supervisor should carefully explain the reasons to play down what might
be a threat to the group.

4.2 Definition Team

A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal.
As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, "team is a group of people
who are interdependent with respect to information, resources, knowledge and skills and who seek to
combine their efforts to achieve a common goal".
A group does not necessarily constitute a team. Teams normally have members with complementary skills
and generate synergy through a coordinated effort which allows each member to maximize their strengths
and minimize their weaknesses. Naresh Jain (2009) claims:

Different Types of Teams

The truth is, there are many different types of teams. Some teams are permanent while others are temporary.
Some are part of the corporate hierarchy while others are adjunct. One thing you can be sure of is, your career
will involve working with teams. Let’s take a look at the most common types of teams in the workplace.
1. Department teams: Departmental teams have been around for quite some time. As a department team,
individuals relate to specialty or focus he or she has mastered, with everyone working toward achieving goals
outlined in the company’s mission statement. Some examples include developer teams at a tech start up or the
sales team at a marketing agency.
Departmental teams are permanent and typically work on ongoing projects or goals.
2. Problem-solving teams: These types of teams are usually temporary and focus on solving a specific issue.
For example, after the 2008 financial crisis, several organizational task force teams and governmental
committees were created to come up with solutions to help the country climb out of a steep recession. Once
guidelines were set in place and plans were formed, the task forces and committees were disbanded.
3. Virtual teams: A virtual team can be any type of team that communicates digitally rather than in person.
Easier communication tools allow managers to build teams based on strengths and weaknesses rather than
geography.
4. Cross-functional teams: In most business settings, permanent team members are going to collaborate with
other departments to tackle certain events for the company – such a new product launch. In these situations,
communication between internal departments is crucial in order to address the project goals.
5. Self-managed teams: These types of teams are the most empowered, as they have to power to make
decisions. Each team member brings a certain skill set to the table to make informed decisions, complete
assignments or deliver services for customers. Companies that implement self-managed teams say their
employees tend to feel more ownership of the project.
There are many types of teams that have become commonplace in companies. It’s crucial for professors to not
only help students understand how business teams operate, but to also give them the tech tools and data
necessary to see how these interactions work in real time. Building teamwork is key across academia and
business, so it is important to tackle challenges early on that could lead to dysfunctional teams down the road.

Team Empowerment

An empowered employee has the authority and responsibility to make decisions, rather than needing to get
approval or instructions from a manager. In an empowered team, each teammate has a voice in group
decisions. The team self-organizes around a leader instead of reporting to a manager, and may make changes
to their project or product at will. An organization structured around empowered teams will have a relatively
flat hierarchy and a high proportion of well-educated, highly trusted employees.
Characteristics
Team empowerment incorporates four elements: potency, meaningfulness, autonomy and impact. A potent
team believes in its own power and effectiveness. Meaningfulness is a measure of how much the employees
care about the results of their work or find it rewarding. A team is autonomous to the extent that it is free to
make decisions and impact measures how much the team contributes to the company.
It is possible to have team empowerment even without much individual empowerment. Similarly, individual
employees in a functional division such as marketing or accounting may be empowered, but this does not
necessarily constitute an empowered team.
 Significance
Empowered teams are usually project-based and cross-discipline; they may be developing a new product,
establishing a company policy or conducting an audit. While they don't have a dedicated manager within the
team, they may utilize the skills of a project manager to help coordinate tasks and timelines. Rules are not
imposed upon them from above, but they are far more effective when they establish strict rules within the
team regarding how decisions are made and communicated, and who is responsible for implementing them.
Advantages
Empowered teams often have high morale, and may cost the company less due to not requiring a dedicated
manager. Highly qualified knowledge workers can produce more effective and efficient results, since each
individual can contribute his expertise without funnelling information through a manager. For projects that
directly affect a company's customer, an empowered team can be an excellent resource for customer service,
as the team will take responsibility for informing and pleasing the client.
Disadvantages
Because everyone can make decisions in an empowered team, it is susceptible to conflict and
disorganization. Without a clear line of authority, there is no tie-breaker in a disagreement, and there may
not be anyone to challenge a poor idea. An untested or unskilled team has the power to damage the company
through poor decisions. This can start a blame cycle as each team member attempts to save his reputation
and job.
Virtual teams
A virtual team is a group of people who participate in common projects by making collaborative efforts to
achieve shared goals and objectives. These people perform tasks and jobs in a virtual work environment
created and maintained through IT and software technologies.
Example of a Virtual Team
Company A, a plane manufacturer, is facing heavy pressure from competitors. To address the issue, Company
A brings in experts from the United States, Canada, Asia, and Europe to collaborate together and create a new
innovative plane design.
Common Challenges of a Virtual Team
 Misunderstanding from poor communication.
 Incompatible communication preferences.
 Differences in work ethic.
 Lack of clarity and direction.
 Frequent second-guessing.
 Deficient sense of ownership and commitment.
 Inability to ask the right questions.
 Difficulty with delegation.

There are two types of virtual teams, such as follows:

 Global virtual team. As a rule, these teams are located in different countries and cities all over the world.
They can be employees of several companies which join their efforts and resources (incl. people,
technology, money) to perform shared outsourced projects and achieve common goals.
 Local virtual team. Members of a local virtual workgroup usually belong to the same company. That
company is either big or small, and it has enough resources (technology is essential) to establish and
maintain virtual team workplaces and organize its employees into a productive remote group.
Q.1 Define Group. Explain the different types of groups.
Q.2 Explain the different stages of group development.
Q.3 Write short notes on 1) Group Dynamics 2) Group cohesiveness.
Q.4 Define team. Explain different types of teams.
Q.5 What is team empowerment? Explain its characteristics, feature and advantages.
Q.6 What is the meaning of virtual team and mention the challenges required for virtual team?

Chapter no. 5 Stress and conflict management

5.1 Cross-cultural communication and its effect on conflict
A field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and
different ways among themselves, and how they endeavour to communicate across cultures. Intercultural
communication is a related field of study.
Cross-cultural communication has become strategically important to companies due to the growth of global
business, technology, and the Internet. Understanding cross-cultural communication is important for any
company that has a diverse workforce or plans on conducting global business. This type of communication
involves an understanding of how people from different cultures speak, communicate, and perceive the world
around them.
Cross-cultural communication in an organization deals with understanding different business customs, beliefs
and communication strategies. Language differences, high-context vs. low-context cultures, nonverbal
differences, and power distance are major factors that can affect cross-cultural communication.
Let's take a look at how cross-cultural differences can cause potential issues within an organization. Jack is a
manager at a New Mexico-based retail conglomerate. He has flown to Japan to discuss a potential partnership
with a local Japanese company. His business contact, Yamato, is his counterpart within the Japanese company.
Jack has never been to Japan before, and he's not familiar with their cultural norms. Let's look at some of the
ways that a lack of cultural understanding can create a barrier for business success by examining how Jack
handles his meeting with Yamato.
The concept of high- and low-context culture relates to how an employee's thoughts, opinions, feelings, and
upbringing affect how they act within a given culture. North America and Western Europe are generally
considered to have low-context cultures. This means that businesses in these places have direct,
individualistic employees who tend to base decisions on facts. This type of businessperson wants specifics
noted in contracts and may have issues with trust.
High-context cultures are the opposite in that trust is the most important part of business dealings. There are
areas in the Middle East, Asia and Africa that can be considered high context. Organizations that have high-
context cultures are collectivist and focus on interpersonal relationships. Individuals from high-context
cultures might be interested in getting to know the person they are conducting business with in order to get a
gut feeling on decision making. They may also be more concerned about business teams and group success
rather than individual achievement.
Jack and Yamato ran into some difficulties during their business negotiations. Jack spoke quickly and
profusely because he wanted to seal the deal as soon as possible. However, Yamato wanted to get to know
Jack, and he felt that Jack spoke too much. Yamato also felt that Jack was only concerned with completing
the deal for his own self-interest and was not concerned with the overall good of the company. Jack's nonverbal
cues did not help the negotiations either
conflict occurring between individuals or social groups that are separated by cultural boundaries can be
considered “cross-cultural conflict.” But individuals, even in the same society, are potentially members of
many different groups, organized in different ways by different criteria
 Cultural conflict is a type of conflict that occurs when different cultural values and beliefs clash. It has been
used to explain violence and crime. ... An example of cultural conflict is the debate over abortion. Ethnic
cleansing is another extreme example of cultural conflict.
Cultures are embedded in every conflict because conflicts arise in human relationships. Cultures affect the
ways we name, frame, blame, and attempt to tame conflicts. Whether a conflict exists at all is a cultural
question. In an interview conducted in Canada, an elderly Chinese man indicated he had experienced no
conflict at all for the previous 40 years. Among the possible reasons for his denial was a cultural preference
to see the world through lenses of harmony rather than conflict, as encouraged by his Confucian upbringing.
Labeling some of our interactions as conflicts and analyzing them into smaller component parts is a distinctly
Western approach that may obscure other aspects of relationships.
Culture is always a factor in conflict, whether it plays a central role or influences it subtly and gently. For any
conflict that touches us where it matters, where we make meaning and hold our identities, there is always a
cultural component. Intractable conflicts like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or the India-Pakistan conflict over
Kashmir are not just about territorial, boundary, and sovereignty issues -- they are also about
acknowledgement, representation, and legitimization of different identities and ways of living, being, and
making meaning.
Conflicts between teenagers and parents are shaped by generational culture, and conflicts between spouses or
partners are influenced by gender culture. In organizations, conflicts arising from different disciplinary
cultures escalate tensions between co-workers, creating strained or inaccurate communication and stressed
relationships. Culture permeates conflict no matter what -- sometimes pushing forth with intensity, other times
quietly snaking along, hardly announcing its presence until surprised people nearly stumble on it.
Culture is inextricable from conflict, though it does not cause it. When differences surface in families,
organizations, or communities, culture is always present, shaping perceptions, attitudes, behaviors, and
outcomes.
5.2 Definition of communication conflict
Conflict has been defined as "an expressed struggle between interdependent parties who perceive
incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference." In order for conflict to be considered present, there
must be an expressed struggle. This is more than a mere disagreement. ... Conflict exists with incompatible
goals.
Communication is an ideal method to resolve our conflicts. It is negotiating, understanding, delivering and
listening. Once we realize our differences and agree to communicate, we actually are agreeing to cooperate
by addressing our proposals and demands logically rather than inviting rage and delirium
Seven Ways to Improve Your Communication During a Conflict
1. Focus on behaviors and not on your interpretations. ...
2. Avoid the use of “always” and “never” ...
3. Use “I” statements. ...
4. Say what you want rather than what you don't want. ...
5. Beware of your non-verbal messages. ...
6. Apologize for your contribution. ...
7. Give them a chance to speak.

5.3 Functional and Dysfunctional conflict.

When most people hear the word conflict, they think of the term in a negative manner. Surprisingly, conflict
can actually be a positive within an organization. Conflict can bring about change, improve situations and
offer new solutions. Two types of conflict that can occur within a company are functional and dysfunctional.
Functional conflict is healthy, constructive disagreement between groups or individuals, while dysfunctional
conflict is unhealthy disagreement that occurs between groups or individuals.
Functional Conflict
Susie Steel is a vice president in a real estate development firm called Hearts Development. She has spent
enormous amounts of energy cultivating a relationship with a local town regarding an available plot of land.
Susie would like to purchase the land to build townhomes for sale. She has developed an excellent relationship
with the town politicians and community members.
An issue has developed over the planned usage of the land, though. The town will sell the land to Susie's
company but feels that townhomes would be bad for the overall community. They're concerned with the
additional cost and burden of kids that the townhomes would bring into the community. Susie understands the
community's concern and wants a win-win situation to occur. She feels that this issue will be a functional
conflict due to the fact that the disagreement will bring a positive end result to both parties. Positive results of
functional conflict include:

 Awareness of both sides of issues

 Improvement of working conditions due to accomplishing solutions together
 Solving issues together to improve overall morale
 Making innovations and improvements within an organization
In Susie's case, constructive criticism and discussion resulted in a compromise and a solution between the
parties. Susie understood the town's concern but needed to find something to build that would bring revenue
for the company. Through their joint meetings, the end solution was for Hearts Development to build a
retirement community, which would only have citizens 55 and over living in the town. This would eliminate
the issue of having more young people come into town and burden the school system.

Organizational Dysfunctional Conflict

Dysfunctional conflict within an organization is motivated by egos of employees with competing ambitions.
It often leads to higher stress and a likelihood that employees will burn out. Employees will also likely feel
less satisfaction and less loyalty to the organization.

Stages of Dysfunctional Conflict

There are five stages of dysfunctional conflict. Incompatibility is the source of conflict: misunderstandings
and lack of communication. Recognition is the process by which employees internalize the conflict that
affects their behavior. Intention is the process by which employees' behavior changes due to the conflict.
Perceived behavior refers to slights and reactions that play into creating conflict, while results are effects of
the conflict on a group.

Resolving Dysfunctional Conflicts

A leader must resolve a conflict by recognizing ambitions and abilities of employees and attempt to motivate
and stimulate employees when there is too little conflict or calm employees' tempers and bringing them to
work together more effectively when there is too much conflict.

5.4 Conflict Resolution

Conflict resolution is the process by which two or more parties reach a peaceful resolution to a dispute.
Conflict may occur between co-workers, or between supervisors and subordinates, or between service
providers and their clients or customers. Conflict can also occur between groups, such as management and
the labor force, or between whole departments.
The Conflict Resolution Process

The resolution of conflicts in the workplace typically involves some or all of the following processes:
1. Recognition by the parties involved that a problem exists.
2. Mutual agreement to address the issue and find some resolution.
3. An effort to understand the perspective and concerns of the opposing individual or group.
4. Identifying changes in attitude, behaviour, and approaches to work by both sides that will lessen negative
feelings.
5. Recognizing triggers to episodes of conflict.
6. Interventions by third parties such as Human Resources representatives or higher level managers to
mediate.
7. A willingness by one or both parties to compromise.
8. Agreement on a plan to address differences.
9. Monitoring the impact of any agreements for change.
10. Disciplining or terminating employees who resist efforts to defuse conflicts.

5.5 Conflict Management Strategies

People deal with conflict in a variety of ways; therefore, you need different conflict resolution strategies.
We at Participation Company spend a lot of time talking about conflict resolution through active
listening and training people to resolve conflict using a variety of strategies. This is how the Thomas-
Kilmann measurement instrument and their five conflict resolution strategies came to our attention.
Kenneth Thomas and Ralph Kilmann developed five conflict resolution strategies that people use to
handle conflict, including avoiding, defeating, compromising, accommodating, and collaborating.
This is based on the assumption that people choose how cooperative and how assertive to be in a
conflict. It suggests that everyone has preferred ways of responding to conflict, but most of us use all
methods under various circumstances. It is helpful to understand the five methods, particularly when
you want to move a group forward.

Conflict Resolution Strategy #1: Avoiding

Avoiding is when people just ignore or withdraw from the conflict. They choose this method when the
discomfort of confrontation exceeds the potential reward of resolution of the conflict. While this might
seem easy to accommodate for the facilitator, people aren’t really contributing anything of value to the
conversation and may be withholding worthwhile ideas. When conflict is avoided, nothing is resolved.
Conflict Resolution Strategy #2: Competing
Competing is used by people who go into a conflict planning to win. They’re assertive and not
cooperative. This method is characterized by the assumption that one side wins and everyone else
 loses. It doesn’t allow room for diverse perspectives into a well-informed total picture. Competing
might work in sports or war, but it’s rarely a good strategy for group problem solving.

Conflict Resolution Strategy #3: Accommodating

Accommodating is a strategy where one party gives in to the wishes or demands of another. They’re
being cooperative but not assertive. This may appear to be a gracious way to give in when one figures
out s/he has been wrong about an argument. It’s less helpful when one party accommodates another
merely to preserve harmony or to avoid disruption. Like avoidance, it can result in unresolved issues.
Too much accommodation can result in groups where the most assertive parties commandeer the
process and take control of most conversations.
Conflict Resolution Strategy #4: Collaborating
Collaborating is the method used when people are both assertive and cooperative. A group may learn
to allow each participant to make a contribution with the possibility of co-creating a shared solution
that everyone can support.
Conflict Resolution Strategy #5: Compromising

Another strategy is compromising, where participants are partially assertive and cooperative. The
concept is that everyone gives up a little bit of what they want, and no one gets everything they want.
The perception of the best outcome when working by compromise is that which “splits the difference.”
Compromise is perceived as being fair, even if no one is particularly happy with the final outcome.

5.6 Resolving personality conflicts

We can't control or change the personality of the other person but we certainly can control our own emotions
and change the way we react to the other person.
Use these 7 steps to help de-escalate or resolve conflict with a co-worker:

1. Avoid discussing the issue with other colleagues.

Many people who are involved in personality conflicts recruit allies among their co-workers. This can create
polarization among co-workers and it escalates the situation. While you are passionately upset about this,
others are not and most often co-workers are uncomfortable and sometimes frightened over the situation. This
behavior is disruptive to the organization and makes it more difficult to fix the situation. FOCUS on what you
can do to make things better!
2. Never respond immediately to the person who is irking you.
They know how to push your buttons and they have done so over a period of time. By not responding
immediately you give yourself some time to think through your response and this pause may cause the other
person to think that you are backing down and they will begin to de-escalate.
3. Look in the mirror!
How are you contributing to this situation? What role are you playing in the escalation of things? The key is
to focus on what you can do differently! What can you do to make things better? If you can figure out your
role in the dynamic you'll learn something important about yourself and you will be able to de-escalate the
conflict.
4. Reframe the situation.
For instance, the individual you are dealing with is screaming and yelling and wanting to be right! Instead of
becoming annoyed and irritated at their unprofessional behavior, picture them as a child wearing a diaper and
throwing a temper tantrum. This allows you to take a step back and not engage.
5. Focus on the other persons strengths.
Remind yourself of the contributions that the other person brings to your company or your team.
When things are going badly, we have a tendency to focus on what doesn't work and all of the negatives.
Focusing on the positive helps us to at least get back to a neutral space and look at things a little more
objectively.
6. Use cooperative communication.
Say things such as "I've noticed that we seem to have differences. I have some ideas about how we might be
able to work together more effectively and I would like to hear your thoughts." Invite them to be a part of the
solution and really listen to their ideas. If you are unable to communicate either because you are too angry or
the other person is, then walk away gracefully rather than standing your ground and allowing things to escalate.
7. Document all interactions in a neutral manner.
It is important to keep track of the confrontations. If you are not able to de-escalate the conflict early on, take
the issue to your immediate supervisor or someone in your HR department and have a neutral party mediate
the situation.
Conflicts should never be swept under the rug. If you are the supervisor or manager and have employees that
are involved in a personality conflict, coach them to resolve their own situation and if that doesn't work step
in! You have a responsibility to the other employees to get control of this situation.

5.7 Negotiation- definition. How to negotiate

Negotiation is a method by which people settle differences. It is a process by which compromise or agreement
is reached while avoiding argument and dispute.
In any disagreement, individuals understandably aim to achieve the best possible outcome for their position
(or perhaps an organisation they represent). However, the principles of fairness, seeking mutual benefit and
maintaining a relationship are the keys to a successful outcome.
Specific forms of negotiation are used in many situations: international affairs, the legal system, government,
industrial disputes or domestic relationships as examples. However, general negotiation skills can be learned
and applied in a wide range of activities. Negotiation skills can be of great benefit in resolving any differences
that arise between you and others.
Stages of Negotiation
In order to achieve a desirable outcome, it may be useful to follow a structured approach to negotiation. For
example, in a work situation a meeting may need to be arranged in which all parties involved can come
together.
The process of negotiation includes the following stages:

1. Preparation
2. Discussion
3. Clarification of goals
4. Negotiate towards a Win-Win outcome
5. Agreement
6. Implementation of a course of action

5.8 Causes of Stress and ways to cope up with stress

Causes of Stress
Everyone has different stress triggers. Work stress tops the list, according to surveys. Forty percent of U.S.
workers admit to experiencing office stress, and one-quarter say work is the biggest source of stress in their lives.
Causes of work stress include:

 Being unhappy in your job

 Having a heavy workload or too much responsibility
 Working long hours
  Having poor management, unclear expectations of your work, or no say in the decision-making process
 Working under dangerous conditions
 Being insecure about your chance for advancement or risk of termination
 Having to give speeches in front of colleagues
 Facing discrimination or harassment at work, especially if your company isn't supportive
Sometimes the stress comes from inside, rather than outside. You can stress yourself out just by worrying about
things. All of these factors can lead to stress:

 Fear and uncertainty. When you regularly hear about the threat of terrorist attacks, global warming, and
toxic chemicals on the news, it can cause you to feel stressed, especially because you feel like you have
no control over those events. And even though disasters are typically very rare events, their vivid coverage
in the media may make them seem as if they are more likely to occur than they really are. Fears can also
hit closer to home, such as being worried that you won't finish a project at work or won't have enough
money to pay your bills this month.
 Attitudes and perceptions. How you view the world or a particular situation can determine whether it
causes stress. For example, if your television set is stolen and you take the attitude, "It's OK, my insurance
company will pay for a new one," you'll be far less stressed than if you think, "My TV is gone and I'll
never get it back! What if the thieves come back to my house to steal again?" Similarly, people who feel
like they're doing a good job at work will be less stressed out by a big upcoming project than those who
worry that they are incompetent.
 Unrealistic expectations. No one is perfect. If you expect to do everything right all the time, you're destined
to feel stressed when things don't go as expected.
 Change. Any major life change can be stressful -- even a happy event like a wedding or a job promotion.
More unpleasant events, such as a divorce, major financial setback, or death in the family can be
significant sources of stress.
Your stress level will differ based on your personality and how you respond to situations. Some people let
everything roll off their back. To them, work stresses and life stresses are just minor bumps in the road. Others
literally worry themselves sick.

Coping with Stress

Everyone—adults, teens, and even children, experiences stress. Stress is a reaction to a situation where a
person feels threatened or anxious. Stress can be positive (e.g. preparing for a wedding) or negative (e.g.
dealing with a natural disaster). Learning healthy ways to cope and getting the right care and support can help
reduce stressful feelings and symptoms.
After a traumatic event, people may have strong and lingering reactions. These events may include personal
or environmental disasters, or threats with an assault. The symptoms may be physical or emotional. Common
reactions to a stressful event can include:

 disbelief, shock, and numbness

 feeling sad, frustrated, and helpless
 difficulty concentrating and making decisions
 headaches, back pains, and stomach problems
 smoking or use of alcohol or drugs
Healthy Ways to Cope with Stress
Feeling emotional and nervous or having trouble sleeping and eating can all be normal reactions to stress.
Here are some healthy ways you can deal with stress:

 Take care of yourself.

o Eat healthy, well-balanced meals
 o Exercise on a regular basis
o Get plenty of sleep
o Give yourself a break if you feel stressed out
 Talk to others. Share your problems and how you are feeling and coping with a parent, friend,
counselor, doctor, or pastor.
 Avoid drugs and alcohol. These may seem to help, but they can create additional problems and
increase the stress you are already feeling.
 Take a break. If news events are causing your stress, take a break from listening or watching the
news.
 Recognize when you need more help. If problems continue or you are thinking about suicide, talk to
a psychologist, social worker, or professional counselor.
Helping Youth Cope with Stress
Children and adolescents often struggle with how to cope with stress. Youth can be particularly overwhelmed
when their stress is connected to a traumatic event—like a natural disaster, family loss, school shootings, or
community violence. Parents and educators can take steps to provide stability and support that help young
people feel better.

Q.1 What is Cross -cultural communication and explain its effect on conflict?
Q.2 Define Communication conflict. Describe functional and dysfunctional conflict.
Q.3 what is meaning by conflict resolution? Explain the conflict resolution process.
Q.4 Describe the different conflict management strategies.
Q.5 Explain in brief the resolving personality conflicts.
Q.6 Define negotiation. Explain how to negotiate.
Q.7 Describe the causes of stress and the way to cope up with stress.

Chapter no.6 Power and Politics

6.1 Definition of power
Power is the ability to influence other people. It refers to the capacity to affect the behaviour of the subordinate
with the control of resources. It is an exchange relationship that occurs in transactions between an agent and
a target. The agent is the person who uses the power and target is the receipt of the attempt to use power.
Power is the ability to influence someone else. Influence is the process of affecting the thoughts, behaviour
and feelings of another person. Authority is the right to influence another person. Authority is a legitimate
right to influence others.

(1) Authority is right to influence others but power is ability to influence people.

(2) Authority is legitimate while power is not.

(3) Authority confers legitimacy to power but power itself need not be legitimate.

Sources (Base) of Power

According to French and Raven, a manager drives power from five sources : Reward, Coercive, Legitimate,
Referent and Expert power.
 Reward Power

It is based on the agent's/manager's ability to control rewards the target/employee wants. The common, e.g.,
of it are managers control rewards of salary increases, bonuses and promotions. This power is based on old
saying that 'wealth is power'.

Coercive Power

It is opposite of reward power. It is based on a manager's ability to cause an unpleasant experience for its
people. In organizational situation, it may be in the form of action for or threat for dismissal, suspension, or
demotion, for the people working in organization.

Legitimate Power

It is based on position and mutual agreement. Both the agent and target agree that the agent has the right to
influence the employees. It is in the form of authority which is delegated to the positions of organizational
members.

Referent Power

It is an elusive power that is based on interpersonal attraction. Charismatic individuals are often thought to
have referent power. Here, people take somebody as ideal and behave accordingly upto a certain stage.

Expert Power

It exists when the agent has information or knowledge that the target needs. It is based on the proverb,
"knowledge in power". Three conditions to be fulfilled are :

(1) The target must trust that the information given by the agent is accurate and correct.

(2) The information should be relevant and useful to the target.

(3) The target must consider the agent as an expert.

Acquisition of Power

Some people enjoy more power than others because :

1. Extraordinary Works : Doing things in a non-routine or extraordinary works contribute to power. For
example, negotiating a new contract, developing a new product, or formulating a new programme.

2. Visible Activities : Even extraordinary activities not known to others do not generate much power.
Therefore, activities need to be visible or known to others. Activities announced and appreciated by the people
of higher echelons bring more power.

3. Cultivate Right People : Individuals can also increase their personal power by developing their
interpersonal relationships with their superiors, subordinates and peers.

4. Coalitions : Coalescing is yet another way to earn power. The philosophy behind joining together is
gaining increased capability to influence others.
 5. Co-opt : Individuals can increase their personal power by co-opting people or groups. Co-opting, seeks
to eliminate threats and opposition to an individual's base of power.

Personal and Position Power

Doing extraordinary things contribute much to personal power. It is possible for a person to affect the
behaviour of others even when he does not have any formal authority. They do so because of superior qualities.
The basis of such personal power lies in the competence, charisma and leader-like qualities of the person
concerned.

Legitimate power is power that is based on position. Authority confers legitimacy to power. Authority is an
institutionalised form of power vested in a position or office. Position power is an exercise of the authority
delegated to a person.

Characteristics of Power and Powerlessness

Kanter has identified several symbols of power or characteristics of powerful people in organization. These are :

1. Ability to intercede for someone in trouble : An individual who can pull someone of a jam has power.

2. Ability to get placement for favoured employees : Arranging and getting a key promotion for an employee is
a sign of power.

3. Exceeding budget limits : A manager who can go beyond and above budget limits without being reprimanded
has power.

4. Procuring above-average raises for employees : A manager who can pull incentives above average for his/her
employee has power.

5. Getting items done on own terms at meetings.

6. Access to early information : Having access to information before anyone else is an indication of power.

7. Top managers seeking out opinion : Top managers may seek advice from their lower-level managers.

6.2 Empowerment definition, empowerment in the workplace, effects of empowerment.

Empowerment is the process of giving employees in the organisation the power, authority, responsibility,
resources, freedom to take decisions and solve work related problems.
In order to take such initiatives and decisions, they are given adequate authority and resources.
The empowered employee becomes “self-directed” and “self-controlled”. Empowerment focuses on
employees to make use of their full potential.
On the other hand, empowerment means giving up control on employees and letting every employee make
decisions, set goals, accomplish results and receive rewards. It means making a person able to manage by
himself. It is a process for helping right person at the right levels to makes the right decision for the right
reasons.
The prime objective of empowerment is allocation of power between management and employees in such a
way that employees’ commitment can be enhanced. Managers in contemporary organisations advocate
performance improvement through employee empowerment and decentralization.
Empowerment in the workplace
Empowerment is the process of enabling or authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and
control work and decision-making about their job in autonomous, independent, self-directed ways.

Empowered employees are loyal, committed and potentially more productive. When employees are given the
tools and resources needed to successfully manage or lead their own projects, work toward their goals and
drive their own career, the benefits are endless.

Empowered employees are more likely to:

 Go the extra mile

 Follow best practices
 Be more productive
 Have good communication
 Embrace change
 Have a “can do” attitude
 Provide better customer service

So how do you spark employee empowerment in the workplace? At Limeade, we weave employee
empowerment into the daily roles of our employees. We make sure to enable, inspire and encourage
individuals to take steps to improve their work experience, increase their work engagement and help build an
inclusive culture.

Effects of empowerment

1. Offer authority and ownership by handing out responsibility. Let an employee take on a new project
— and run with it. When you delegate different (even small) tasks to an employee, it empowers her to get the
job done, and done well.

2. Make guidelines and best practices clear. When employees understand the guidelines they should work
within and which boundaries they can push, they’re able to do their job more effectively and feel more
supported.

3. Encourage communication to increase levels of trust and show that all ideas are welcome and valued.

4. Offer individual or team coaching to identify roadblocks, find solutions and then take action.

5. Allow opportunities for growth. Foster internal development and growth across departments with cross-
department job shadows and transitions.

6. Provide organizational support for employees to create and drive their own development plans with their
managers.

6.3 Abuse of power, harassment, workplace bullying, sexual harassment.

Managers' incentives and discretion and subordinates' dependencies define the abuse of power as an important
organizational issue. ... Two dimensions, disrespect for individual dignity and interference with job
performance or deserved rewards, conceptualize the interpersonal abuse of power.
The abuse and misuse of power or authority in the course of performing work can occur both with external
stakeholders and internally among staff. The effects can be damaging to morale and to working relationships.
 Abuse of power or authority can take various forms. Examples include:
 Bullying or harassing behaviour
 Requesting staff to do personal errands or favours
 Pressuring staff to distort facts or break rules
 Interfering with the ability of a colleague to work effectively (i.e. by impeding access to information or
resources)
Also, some leaders abuse their authority when they get higher up the leadership chain simply because they
can. Because “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” When an individual begins to
gain more and more power.. there are less and less checks and balances for his or her actions.
Causes of Abuse of power
 Anti-social behaviour.
 Bullying.
 Child abuse. neglect. sexual. military.
 Cruelty to animals.
 Domestic abuse.
 Elder abuse.
 Gaslighting.
 Harassment

Workplace harassment have gained interest among practitioners and researchers as it is becoming one of the
most sensitive areas of effective workplace management, because a significant source of work stress is
associated with aggressive behaviors at workplace. In Asian countries, workplace harassment is one of the
poorly attended issues by managers in organizations. However, it attracted lots of attention from researchers
and governments since the 1980s. Under occupational health and safety laws around the world, workplace
harassment and workplace bullying are identified as being core psychosocial hazards. Overbearing
supervision, constant criticism, and blocking promotions are all considered workplace harassment
Personal harassment is a form of workplace harassment that’s not based on one of the protected classes (such
as race, gender or religion).
Simply, it’s bullying in its most basic form and it’s not illegal but can be damaging nevertheless.
Examples of Personal Harassment
Personal harassment includes:

 Inappropriate comments
 Offensive jokes
 Personal humiliation

 Critical remarks
 Ostracizing behaviors
 Intimidation tactics

Or any other behavior that creates an intimidating and offensive work environment for the victim

Workplace bullying
 According to the widely used definition from Olweus, "[Workplace bullying is] a situation in which one
or more persons systematically and over a long period of time perceive themselves to be on the receiving
end of negative treatment on the part of one or more persons, in a situation in which the person(s) exposed
to the treatment has difficulty in defending themselves against this treatment".

According to Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf and Cooper, "Bullying at work means harassing, offending, socially
excluding someone or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks. In order for the label bullying (or
mobbing) to be applied to a particular activity, interaction or process it has to occur repeatedly and
regularly (e.g. weekly) and over a period of time (e.g. about six months). Bullying is an escalated process
in the course of which the person confronted ends up in an inferior position and becomes the target of
systematic negative social acts."
key features that these behaviours possess. Bullying is characterized by: [14]

 Repetition (occurs regularly)

 Duration (is enduring)
 Escalation (increasing aggression)
 Power disparity (the target lacks the power to successfully defend themselves)
 Attributed intent
Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes either
physical or emotional harm. It can include such tactics as verbal, nonverbal, psychological, physical abuse
and humiliation. This type of workplace aggression is particularly difficult because, unlike the typical school
bully, workplace bullies often operate within the established rules and policies of their organization and their
society. In the majority of cases, bullying in the workplace is reported as having been done by someone who
has authority over the victim. However, bullies can also be peers, and occasionally subordinates.
the impact of the larger organizational context on bullying as well as the group-level processes that impact on
the incidence and maintenance of bullying behaviour. Bullying can be covert or overt. It may be missed by
superiors; it may be known by many throughout the organization. Negative effects are not limited to the
targeted individuals, and may lead to a decline in employee morale and a change in organizational culture. It
can also take place as overbearing supervision, constant criticism, and blocking promotions
Sexual harassment is, simply, harassment that is sexual in nature and generally includes unwanted sexual
advances, conduct or behavior.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is a form of unlawful discrimination and is taken seriously by the courts.
Other types of harassment might take some time and increasing severity to create a hostile work environment
for the victim, whereas sexual harassment typically brings about discomfort and negatively impacts the
victims’ life immediately.
Examples of Sexual Harassment:

 Sharing sexual photos (pornography)

 Posting sexual posters
 Sexual comments, jokes, questions
 Inappropriate sexual touching
 Inappropriate sexual gestures
 Invading personal space in a sexual way
6.4 Politics definition, political behaviour, and reality of politics, types of political activity, making office
politics work.
D. Farrell & J. C Petersen defined political behaviour in organisations as “those activities that are not required
as part of once’s formal roll in the organisation, but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of
advantages and disadvantages within the organisation.”

Meaning of Organizational Politics

It means the use of power and influences in organizations. Actions not officially sanctioned or acceptable
by an organization that are taken to influence others in order to meet personal goals refer to politics.

Reasons for Organizational Politics

There are many reasons that contribute to political behaviour in organizations. Some of them are :

1. Clear Goals : Organizations are human groups work for achieving certain goals. The more unclear and
complex the goals are, the more politics will be.

2. Discretionary Authority : Organizations provide position with discretionary authority that is used based
on individual judgement.

3. Autocratic Decisions : The leader dictates the decisions or orders and the subordinates have no right to
disobey. This leads to low employee morale and doubts about what the manger-leader decides. Therefore, in
order to safeguard their interests, workers involve in politics by forming coalitions and associations.

4. Power Politics : Power is also a limited in supply. Hence, there is a competition among
mangers/executives to acquire more and more power. They try to acquire more power and resources than their
competitors. Managers' such behaviour becomes quite dysfunctional.

5. Saturation in Promotion : Some people reach maximum level of promotion. They feel dissatisfaction
and resort to the organizational politics. Some people may like work performance more than posit ional
achievement and therefore, may not resort to politics.

6. Biased Performance Appraisal : When the job performance of a personnel cannot be measured
quantitatively, performance appraisal is made on the basis of the judgement of the superior. As such the
performance appraisal is likely to be subjective and biased. This may force the subordinates into dysfunctional
political behaviour.

Political behaviour- Individual who use power in organisations are organisational politicians, political
behaviour is actions not officially sanctioned by an organisation that are taken to influence others in order to
meet once personal goals. Political behaviour may be legitimate or illegitimate.
Legitimate political behaviour refers to normal every day politics like complaining to your supervisor, by
passing the chain of command, forming coalitions, obstructing organisational policies, excessive adherence to
rules etc.
Illegitimate political behaviours are those activities that violet the implied rules of the game. Illegitimate
activities include: Sabotage, whistle-blowing, symbolic protest, group of employees simultaneously applying
for casual leave etc.
Reality of politics
Organizations are made up of individuals or groups with different values, goals and interests. This set up the
potential of conflict over the allocation of limited resources, such as departmental budgets, space, project
responsibilities and salary adjustments. If resources were abundant constituencies within the organization
could satisfy their goals. As the resources are limited everyone’s interests cannot be satisfied. Furthermore,
gains by one individual or group are often perceived as coming at the expense of others within the organization
whether they are not. These forces create real competition among members for the organization’s limited
resources.
Types of political activity

Michael Maccoby describes four types of organisational politicians they are

1. The Craftsman; Craftsmen, driven by achievement, are the least political. They are often
technical specialists who like details and precision. The person is usually quiet, sincere,
modest and practical.

2. The Jungle Fighter: Jungle fighters although very different in behaviour, are apt to be active
politicians. Unafraid to step on others to get ahead, this fighter believes employees should be
used to get ahead in the company. They desire success at any cost.

3. Company man or women: as politicians go, these are conservative people, they possess a
strong desire for affiliation and may not exhibit a lot off political behaviour. In fact, this
individual’s identity rests with the powerful, protective company. The concern of such people
is for humans: however, they are more involved with security than success and may miss
opportunities that arise.

4. The Gamesman: the Gamesmen are apt politicians. They view business as game and take
calculated risks. the gamesman tends to be charismatic, thrives on challenge and competition
and motivates employees with enthusiasm.

The major contribution of Maccoby’s work is that it shows that individuals differ in their behaviour as
political actors.

Making office politics work.

All workplaces are political to some extent, simply because people bring their personal emotions, needs,
ambitions, and insecurities into their professional lives.

We all want to be successful, but we don't always agree with one another about what this means or how we
should achieve it. Office politics arise when these differences of personality and opinion become difficult to
manage.

And we often care deeply about the decisions that we make, or that others make about us, so we seek to
influence people's choices. We can be straightforward or underhand about this.
Also, remember that some people will always have more power than others, either through hierarchy or some
other source. It's natural to want to use, or increase, our power, but we might do so in a way that takes power
away from others.
Finally, organizations have limited resources. This can lead to teams competing to satisfy their own needs and
goals, even when this may go against the "greater good."

"Good" politics can help you to get what you want without harming others in the process. To harness its power:
1. Analyse the organization chart.

2. Understand the informal network.

3. Build relationships.

4. Make the most of your network.

5. Develop your "people skills."

6. Be brave – but not naive.

7. Neutralize negative politics.

Q.1 What is Power? How is it related to political behaviour?

Q.2 Define empowerment. Explain the empowerment in the workplace & effects of empowermrnt.

Q.3 What is Abuse of power? Describe the different causes for abuse of power.

Q.4 Define politics. Explain the political behaviour and reality of politics.

Q.5 Describe the different types of political activity.

Q.6 Write short notes on making office political work.

Chapter -7 Organisational culture

7.1 Definition of organisational culture, Levels of culture.

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared assumptions, values, and beliefs that show employees what
is appropriate and inappropriate behaviour.
A few definitions on the term organisational culture are below:
According to Larry Senn, the corporate culture “consists of the norms, values and unwritten rules of conduct
of an organisation as well as management styles, priorities, beliefs and inter-personal behaviour that prevail.
Together they create a climate that influences how well people communicate, plan and make decisions.”
Joanne Martin defines cultures in organisation in the following words: “as individuals come into contact
with organisations, they come into contact with dress norms… the organisation’s formal rules and procedures,
its formal codes of behaviour rituals… and so on. These elements are some of the manifestations of
organisational culture.”
Organizational cultures are often referred to as “corporate cultures” and reflect the beliefs, values, and
assumptions of an organization. For example, the culture of one school in a school district can be different
than the culture of another school located in the same district simply because of what the people in one school
culture adhere and react to.

Levels of Culture

Culture has been defined in a number of ways, but most simply, as the learned and shared the behavior of a
community of interacting human beings.
According to British anthropologist Edward Taylor, “Culture is that complex whole which includes
knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as. a member
of society”.
According to Phatak, Bhagat, and Kashlak, “Culture is a concept that has been used in several social science
disciplines to explain variations in human thought processes in different parts of the world.” ‘
According to J.P. Lederach, “Culture is the shared knowledge and schemes created by a set of people for
perceiving, interpreting, expressing, and responding to the social realities around them”. One of the basic
tenets of culture is that it consists of levels and sublevels. It is useful to think about culture in terms of five
basic levels: national, regional, organizational, team, and individual. Within each of these levels are tangible
and intangible sublevels of culture.
National Culture

This example illustrates the national differences between two cultures: American and German. National
differences refer to the cultural influences of a nation that result in its national characteristics. Although nation-
states have regional and political differences, national culture can be viewed as the values held by a majority
of the population within the nation. These values are largely unconscious and developed throughout one’s
childhood. The values are pushed to a level of consciousness when in contrast to another nation’s cultural
values. Within national cultures, values are generally seen as stable over time. National values, because they
reflect the traditions of the nation-state over time, will change slightly from generation to generation, but the
overall values will remain the same. For example, a German who comes from a culture of punctuality and
travels for business in Italy will notice a national cultural difference in how Italians view time (more leisurely
and relaxed) as compared to their own national culture.

Regional Culture

All national cultures consist of regional subcultures that influence the characteristics of one group from
another in a nation state. The word “pop” refers to a soft drink in the Midwest, but if you go to the East Coast,
it is referred to as “soda.” In other regions of the United States, a soft drink is referred to as “Coke.”

Organizational Culture
When you walk into a Target Store, what do you see? What does it look like? What kinds of items do they
sell? What do you see when you walk into a Wal-Mart? What does it look like? What types of people shop at
Wal-Mart? Who works there?

Shoppers have different experiences walking into a Target versus a Wal-Mart store because even though they
are both retailers, their buildings are different, the types of products they carry vary from each other, the
workers wear different clothes, the layout of a Wal-Mart store is very different from the layout of a Target
store, and the behaviors expressed by workers in each organization are unique to each retailer. These elements
give the organization its distinct culture that separates it from the other.

team level. The values, beliefs, and norms of culture are present in team environments, dictating the team’s
operations and efficiency. Cultural norms in teams guide members in their dress and appearance, their
language, how they relate to one another, and how they get along. Some teams are very serious, while others
use humor in their work life. Departments, teams, or workgroups can, and will, act very differently from each
other even though they are located in the same building and in the same organization. Although you might not
think about personality or temperament as cultural elements, they can and do shape a team’s culture.

Individual Culture

Individual cultural differences relate to your preferences for things through your personal experiences that
include the influence of your family, your peers, school, media, co-workers, and so on. You may share a
national culture, such as being an American, with another person and live in the same regional culture, the
Midwest. You may even work with the person in the same organization and department, thus sharing an
organizational and team culture, and even though you share similar interests, you will likely have differences
in individual culture based on who you are and your social upbringing.

7.2 Characteristics of culture, Culture’s functions.

Culture has five basic characteristics: It is learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. All
cultures share these basic features.
 Culture is learned. It is not biological; we do not inherit it. Much of learning culture is unconscious.
We learn culture from families, peers, institutions, and media. The process of learning culture is known
as enculturation. While all humans have basic biological needs such as food, sleep, and sex, the way
we fulfill those needs varies cross-culturally.
 Culture is shared. Because we share culture with other members of our group, we are able to act in
socially appropriate ways as well as predict how others will act. Despite the shared nature of culture,
that doesn’t mean that culture is homogenous (the same). The multiple cultural worlds that exist in any
society are discussed in detail below.
 Culture is based on symbols. A symbol is something that stands for something else. Symbols vary
cross-culturally and are arbitrary. They only have meaning when people in a culture agree on their use.
Language, money and art are all symbols. Language is the most important symbolic component of
culture.
 Culture is integrated. This is known as holism, or the various parts of a culture being interconnected.
All aspects of a culture are related to one another and to truly understand a culture, one must learn
about all of its parts, not only a few.
 Culture is dynamic. This simply means that cultures interact and change. Because most cultures are in
contact with other cultures, they exchange ideas and symbols. All cultures change, otherwise, they
would have problems adapting to changing environments. And because cultures are integrated, if one
component in the system changes, it is likely that the entire system must adjust.
 Functions of Culture

We will review the functions that culture performs and assess whether culture can be a liability for an
organization. Culture performs a number of functions within an organization.
 First, it has a boundary-defining role; that is, it creates distinctions between one organization and another.
 Second, it conveys a sense of identity for organization members.
 Third, culture facilitates the generation of commitment to something larger than one’s individual self-interest.
 Fourth, it enhances the stability of the social system. Culture is the social glue that helps hold the organization
together by providing appropriate standards for what employees should say and do.
 Finally, culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and
shapes the attitudes and behavior of employees. It is this last function, that is of particular interest to us.
The role of culture in influencing employee behavior appears to be increasingly important in today’s
workplace.
As organizations have widened spans of control, flattened structures introduced, teams reduced formalization
and empowered employees. The shared meaning provided by a strong culture ensures that everyone is pointed
in the same direction.

7.3 Dominant culture, subcultures, core values

A dominant culture is a set of core values shared by a majority of the organization's members. When we
talk about organizational culture, we generally, mean dominant culture only. The dominant culture, is a macro
view, that helps guide the day to day, behaviour of employees.

A sub-culture is a set of values shared by a small minority of organization's members. Sub-cultures arise as
a result of problems or experiences that are shared by members of a department or unit of the organization. In
the sub-culture, the core values of the dominant culture are retained but modified to reflect the individuals
unit's distinct situation. For example, the marketing department may have its own sub-culture, the purchase
department may have its own sub-culture depending upon the additional values which are unique to these
departments only.

It is necessary for every organization to have a dominant culture because if there are only numerous sub-
cultures, the value of organizational culture as an independent variable will lessen and the concept of Shared
Behaviour will no longer be effective. Moreover, if sub-culture come into conflict with the dominant culture,
these will weaken and undermine the organization.

But, many successful firms have found that most sub-cultures help the members of a particular group deal
with the specific day to day problems with which they are confronted. These members may also support many,
if not all, of the core values of the dominant culture.

Core values are the guiding tenets of a company. They are timeless, enduring, and intrinsically important.
Core values support the company's vision, shape the culture, and reflect the company's identify. There are
no universal core values; instead a company must decide what principles it holds most important. “If an
organization's mission statement defines what it does and why, its core values answer the important question
of HOW the business plans to achieve its mission. Red Banyan's five core values are: Results &
Responsiveness; Integrity; Commitment & Can-Do Attitude; Accountability; and Speed. Organizational
subculture forms when people of common situations, identities, or job functions gather around their own
interpretations of the dominant company culture. These subcultures most commonly form when employees
find they need to develop idiosyncratic behaviors, values, and goals to fulfil specific functions of their
disciplines.
 When those subcultures become more clearly defined, it’s not uncommon for leaders to spend their time trying
to figure out if they’re an intrinsically “good” or “bad” thing. This is understandable. When you spend so
much time building a singular mission, vision, and values system for your organization, it’s tempting to view
any slight deviation from those things as wrong or bad.
But organizational subculture is an inevitability. It is frankly impossible to try and manage a one-size-fits-all
culture narrative with a tight grip. As anyone who has witnessed an organization grow from the startup stages
into something much larger can attest, meaningful and necessary differences in culture’s interpretation will
arise at nearly every level.
7.4 Creating and sustaining an organisation’s culture

How Organizational Culture Begins?

An organization’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 endeavours.
The original source of an organization’s culture usually reflects the vision or mission of the organization’s
founders. Because the founders had the original idea, they also may have biases on how to carry out the idea.
Their focus might be on aggressiveness or it might be on treating employees as family. The small size of most
new organizations helps the founders instil their vision in all organizational members. Organizational cultures
can develop in a number of different ways, these steps are explained below:-
1. A single person (founder) has an idea for a new enterprise: Some organizational cultures may be the
direct, or at least, indirect, result of actions taken by the founders. The founders of an organization
traditionally have a major impact on that organization’s early culture. They have a vision of what the
organization should be.
2. Founders’ creation of a core group: The founder brings in one or more other key people and creates a
core group that shares a common vision with the founder. The founder’s only hire and keep employees
who think and feel the way they do.
These employees who form the core group believe that the idea is a good one, is worth the investment of
time, money and energy. Sometimes founders create weak cultures, and if the organization is to survive, a
new top manager must be installed who will sow the seeds for the necessary strong culture.
3. Indoctrinate and Socialize: The founding core group begins to act in concert to create an organization by
raising funds, obtaining patents, incorporating, locating land, building infrastructure and so on. The core
group indoctrinate and socialize employees to their way of thinking and feeling.
4. Build a Common History: The founders’ own behaviour acts as a role model that encourages employees
to identify with them and thereby internalize their beliefs, values, and assumptions. At this point, others
are brought into the organization, and a common history begins to be built. When the organization succeeds,
the founder’s vision becomes seen as a primary determinant of that success. At this point, the founders’
entire personalities become embedded in the culture of the organization.
Most of today’s successful organizations follow the vision of their founders.

Sustaining a Culture
Once a culture is in place, there are practices within the organization that act to maintain it by giving employees
a set of similar experiences. Sustaining a culture depends on three forces. These forces are explained below:
1. Selection: The goal of the selection process is to identify and hire individuals who could make the
organization successful through their services. Therefore candidates who believe in the values of the
organizational have to be selected. Thus, the selection process attempt to ensure a proper match in the
hiring of people who have values essentially consistent with those of the organization or at least a good
portion of those values cherished by the organization. In this way, the selection process sustains an
organization’s culture by selecting those individuals who will fit into the organizations core values.

2. Top Management: Top management have a important role to play in sustaining the organization’s culture.
It is the top management who establish norms that filter down through the organization. It is they through
 their conduct both implicit and explicit that shows what is desirable. They do this through pay raises,
promotions and other rewards.

3. Socialization: Socialization is the process that adapts employees to the organization’s culture.
Organization wants to help new employees adapt to its culture. The adaptation is done through the process
of “socialization”.
Socialization is made up of three stages:

a. The Pre-arrival Stage: This stage encompasses all the learning that occurs before a new member joins
the organization. The socialization process covers both the work to be done and the organization. The pre-
arrival stage is the period of learning in the socialization process that occurs before a new employee joins
the organization. For example, when students join a business school to pursue their MBA degree, they are
socialized to have attitudes and behaviours that business firms want. This is so because the success depends
on the degree to which the student has correctly anticipated the expectations and desires of those in the
business school.

b. Encounter Stage: In this stage of the socialization process, the new employee sees what the organization
is really like and confronts the possibility that expectations and reality may diverge. In expectations prove
to have been more or less accurate, the encounter stage merely provides a reaffirmation of the perceptions
gained during the pre-arrival stage. Those employees who fail to learn the essential or pivotal role
behaviours risk being labelled as “rebels” and face the risk of expulsion. This further contributes to
sustaining the culture.

c. Metamorphosis Stage: Metamorphosis stage is the stage in the socialization process in which a new
employee changes and adjusts to the job, work group and organization. In this stage relatively long-lasting
changes take place. The employee masters the skill required for his or her job, successfully performs his
or her new roles, and makes the adjustments to his or her work group’s values and norms. The
metamorphosis stage completes the socialization process. The new employee internalizes the norms of the
organization and his work groups and understands and accepts the norms of the organization and his work
group. The success of this stage have a positive impact on the new employee’s productivity and his
commitment to the organization.

Dimensions of Organizational Culture

Q.1 What is organisational culture? Explain the levels of culture.
Q.2 What are the characteristics of culture? Explain the culture’s functions.
Q.3 Write short notes on 1) Dominant culture 2) Subcultures 3) Core values
Q.4 Explain the creating and sustaining an organisation’s culture.