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Human Behavior in Organization (HBO) mental abilities. Some researchers believe that
intelligence can be better understood by
MODULE No. 2 breaking it down into four subparts : cognitive,
social, emotional and cultural.

Cognitive intelligence encompasses the

The Foundations of Individual aptitudes that have long been tapped by
Behavior traditional intelligence tests. Social intelligence
is a person’s ability to relate effectively to others.
Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify,
Intelligence is but once characteristic that people understand and manage emotions. And
bring with them when they join an organization. cultural intelligence is awareness of cross-
cultural differences and the ability to function
People differ in many ways. Appearance-related successfully in cross-cultural situations.
differences such as height, weight, skin, hair and
eye color – are the most obvious. Interestingly, It’s important to note that this line of inquiry –
there is evidence that appearance matters in the toward multiple intelligences – is in its infancy,
workplace. For example, tall people –because and the claims made don’t always match the
they are seen as more leader-like – actually scientific evidence. Multiple intelligences –
earn higher performance evaluations and also intelligence contains four subparts: cognitive,
earn more money. social, emotional and cultural.
Evidence also suggests that physical
Physical Abilities
attractiveness matters in OB. For example,
applicants judged as physically attractive are
more likely to get the job. Physical ability – the capacity to do tasks
demanding stamina, dexterity, strength, and
similar characteristics.
Ability
To the same degree that intellectual abilities
play a larger role in complex jobs with
Ability refers to an individual’s capacity to demanding information – processing
perform the various tasks in a job. It is a current requirements, specific physical abilities gain
assessment of what one can do. An individual’s importance for successfully doing less-skilled
overall abilities are essentially made up of two and more standardized jobs. For example, jobs
sets of factors : intellectual and physical. in which success demands stamina, manual
dexterity, leg strength, or similar talents require
Contrary to what we were taught in grade management to identify an employee’s physical
school, we weren’t all created equal. Of course, capabilities.
just because we aren’t all equal in abilities does
not imply that some individuals are inherently
The Ability – Job Fit
inferior to others. What we are acknowledging is
that everyone has strengths and weaknesses in
terms of ability that make him or her relatively The specific intellectual or physical abilities
superior or inferior to others in performing required for adequate job performance depend
certain tasks or activities. on the ability requirements of the job.

So, for example, airline pilots need strong spatial

Intellectual Abilities
–visualization abilities ; beach lifeguards need
both strong spatial –visualization abilities and
Intellectual abilities are those needed to
body coordination ; senior executives need
perform mental activities – for thinking,
verbal abilities ; high-rise construction workers
reasoning and problem solving. People in most
need balance ; and journalists with weak
societies place a high value on intelligence, and
reasoning abilities would likely have difficulty
for good reason. Smart people generally earn
meeting minimum job –performance standards.
more money and attain higher levels of
education. Smart people are also more likely to
What predictions can we make when the fit is
emerge as leaders of groups. Intelligence
poor ? If employees lack the required abilities,
quotient (IQ) tests, for example, are designed to
they are likely to fail. If you’re hired as a word
ascertain one’s general intellectual abilities.
processor and you can’t meet the job’s basic
keyboard typing requirements, your performance
The most frequently cited dimensions making up
is going to be poor irrespective of your positive
intellectual abilities are number aptitude, verbal
attitude or your level of motivation.
comprehension, perceptual speed, inductive
reasoning, deductive reasoning, spatial
visualization, and memory. Biographical Characteristics
In the past decade and a half, researchers have Biographical characteristics – personal
to expand the meaning of intelligence beyond characteristics – such as age, gender, race, and

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length of tenure – that are objective and easily Race

obtained from personnel records.
Race has been studied quite a bit in OB,
Many of the concepts – motivation say, or power particularly as it relates to employment
and politics or organizational culture – are hard outcomes such as personnel selection
to assess. It might be valuable, then, to begin decisions, performance evaluations, pay and
by looking at factors that are easily definable workplace discrimination.
and readily available ; data that can be obtained,
for the most part, simply from information First, in employment settings, there is a
available in an employee’s personal file. tendency for individuals to favor colleagues of
their own race in performance evaluations,
What factors would these be? Obvious promotion decisions, and pay raises. Second,
characteristics would be an employee’s age, there are substantial racial differences in
gender, race and length of service within an attitudes toward affirmative action.
organization.
The major dilemma faced by employers who use
Age mental ability tests for selection, promotion,
training, and similar personnel decisions is
The relationship between age and job concern that they may have a negative impact
performance is likely to be an issue of increasing on racial and ethnic groups.
importance. Why ? There are at least three
reasons. First, there is a widespread belief that However, after reviewing the evidence,
job performance declines with increasing age. researchers have concluded that “despite group
Second, is the reality that the workforce is differences in mean test performance, there is
aging. Third, workers today need to retire at little convincing evidence that well-constructed
age 60 in the private sector and the mandatory tests are more predictive of educational, training,
retirement age of 65 in the government service. or occupational performance for members of the
majority group than for members of the minority
What is the perception of older workers ? group.”
Evidence indicates that employers hold mixed
feelings. They see a number of positive Tenure
qualities that older workers bring to their jobs :
specifically, experience, judgement, a strong Extensive reviews of the seniority – productivity
work ethic, and to commitment to quality. relationship have been conducted. If we define
seniority as time on a particular job, we can say
But older workers are also perceived as lacking that the most recent evidence demonstrates a
flexibility and as being resistant to new positive relationship between seniority and job
technology. And in time when organizations productivity. So tenure, expressed as work
actively seek individuals who are adaptable and experience, appears to be a good predictor of
open to change, the negatives associated with employee productivity.
age clearly hinder the initial hiring of older
workers and increase the likelihood that they will The research relating tenure to absence is quite
be let go during cutback. straightforward. Studies consistently
demonstrate seniority to be negatively related to
Gender absenteeism. In fact, in terms of both frequency
of absence and total days lost at work, tenure is
Psychological studies have found that women the single most important explanatory variable.
are more willing to conform to authority and that
men are more aggressive and more likely than Tenure is also a potent variable in explaining
women to have expectations of success, but turnover. The longer a person is in a job, the
those differences are minor. less likely he or she is to quit.

One issue that does seem to differ between The evidence indicates that tenure and job
genders, especially when the employee has satisfaction are positively related. In fact, when
preschool-age children, is preference for work age and tenure are treated separately, tenure
schedules. Working mothers are more likely to appears to be a more consistent and stable
prefer part-time work, flexible work schedules, predictor of job satisfaction than is chronological
and telecommuting in order to accommodate age.
their family responsibilities.
Learning
But what about absence and turnover rate? Are
women less stable employees than men ? First,
on the question of turnover, the evidence All complex behavior is learned. If we want to
indicates no significant differences. Women’s explain and predict behavior, we need to
quit rates are similar to those for men. understand how people learn.

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A Definition of Learning creating pleasing consequences to follow

specific forms of behavior would increase the
What is learning? A psychologist’s definition is frequency of that behavior.
considerably broader than the layperson’s view
that “it’s what we did when we went to school. In For example, we know a professor who places a
actuality, each of us is continuously “going to mark by a student’s name each time the student
school.” makes a contribution to class discussions.
Operant conditioning would argue that this
Learning occurs all the time. Therefore, a practice is motivating because it conditions a
generally accepted definition of learning is any student to expect a reward each time she
relatively permanent change in behavior that demonstrates a specific behavior.
occurs as a result of experience.
The concept of operant conditioning was part of
Ironically, we can say that changes in behavior Skinner’s broader concept of behaviorism,
indicate that learning has taken place and that which argues that behavior follows stimuli in a
learning is a change in behavior. relatively unthinking manner.

Theories of Learning Behaviorism – a theory which argues that

behavior follows stimuli in a relatively unthinking
How do we learn? Three theories have been manner.
offered to explain the process by which we
acquire patterns of behavior. These are Social learning . Individuals can also learn by
classical conditioning, operant conditioning and observing what happens to other people and just
social learning. by being told about something, as well as by
direct experiences.
Classical Conditioning – a type of conditioning
in which an individual responds to some So, for example, much of what we have learned
stimulus that would not ordinarily produced such comes from watching models – parents,
a response. teachers, peers, motion picture and television
performers, bosses and so forth.
Classical conditioning grew out of experiments
to teach dogs to salivate in response to the This view that we can learn through both
ringing of a bell, conducted in the early 1900s by observation and direct experience is called
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. social-learning theory.

Classical conditioning can be used to explain Social – learning theory – the view that people
why Christmas carols often bring back pleasant can learn through observation and direct
memories of childhood ; the songs are experience.
associated with the festive holiday spirit and
evoke fond memories and feelings of euphoria. The influence of models is central to the social-
learning viewpoint. Four processes have been
In an organizational setting, we can also see found to determine the influence that a model
classical conditioning operating. For example, will have on an individual.
at one manufacturing plant, every time the top
executives from the head office were scheduled Attentional processes. People learn from a
to make a visit, the plant management would model only when they recognize and pay
clean up the administrative offices and wash the attention to its critical features. We tend to be
windows. People had learned and associate the most influenced by models that are attractive,
cleaning of the windows with a visit from the repeatedly available, important to us, or similar
head office. to us in our estimation.

Operant Conditioning – a type of conditioning Retention processes. A model’s influence will

in which desired voluntary behavior leads to a depend on how well the individual remembers
reward or prevents punishment. the model’s action after the model is no longer
readily available.
Operant conditioning argues that behavior is a
function of its consequences. People learn to Motor reproduction processes. After a person
behave to get something they want or to avoid has seen a new behavior by observing the
something they don’t want. Operant behavior model, the watching must be converted to doing.
means voluntary or learned behavior in contrast This process then demonstrates that the
to reflexive or unlearned behavior. The tendency individual can perform the modeled activities.
to repeat such behavior is influenced by the
reinforcement or lack of reinforcement. Reinforcement processes. Individuals will be
motivated to exhibit the modeled behavior if
What Pavlov did for classical conditioning, the positive incentives or rewards are provided.
Harvard psychologist B.F. Skinner did for Behaviors that are positively reinforced will be
operant conditioning. Skinner argued that

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given more attention, learned better, and questions. Hand-raising will become
performed more often. extinct when it is invariably met with an
absence of reinforcement.
Shaping : A Managing Tool
Schedules of Reinforcement. The two
Because learning takes place on the job as well major types of reinforcement schedules
as prior to it, managers will be concerned with are continuous and intermittent.
how they can teach employees to behave in
ways that most benefit the organization. When A continuous reinforcement schedule
we attempt to mold individuals by guiding their reinforces the desired behavior each
learning in graduated steps, we are shaping and every time it is demonstrated.
behavior.
Take, for example, the case of someone
Shaping behavior – systematically reinforcing who historically has had trouble arriving
each successive step that moves an individual at work on time. Every time he is not
closer to the desired response. tardy his manager might compliment
him on his desirable behavior.
We shape behavior by systematically reinforcing
each successive step that moves the individual In an intermittent schedule, on the other
closer to the desired response. If an employee hand, not every instance of the
who has chronically been a half-hour late for desirable behavior is reinforced, but
work comes in only 20 minutes late, we can reinforcement is given often enough to
reinforce that improvement. Reinforcement make the behavior worth repeating.
would increase as responses more closely
approximated the desired behavior.
Intermittent reinforcement. Reinforcing
Methods of Shaping Behavior. There are four a desired behavior often enough to
ways in which to shape behavior ; through make the behavior worth repeating but
positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, not every time it is demonstrated.
punishment, and extinction.
An intermittent reinforcement can be of
o Following a response with something a ratio or interval type.
pleasant is called positive
reinforcement. This would describe, for o Ratio schedules depend on how many
instance, the boss praises an employee responses the subject makes. The
for a job well done. individual is reinforced after giving a
certain number of specific types of
o Following a response by the termination behavior.
or withdrawal of something unpleasant
is called negative reinforcement. o Interval schedules depend on how
much time has passed since the
If your college instructor asks a question previous reinforcement. With interval
and you don’t know the answer, looking schedules, the individual is reinforced
through your lecture notes is likely to on the first appropriate behavior after a
preclude your being called on. This is a particular time has elapsed. A
negative reinforcement because you reinforcement can also be classified as
have learned that looking busily through fixed or variable.
your notes prevents the instructor from
calling you. When rewards are spaced at uniform
time intervals, the reinforcement
o Punishment is causing an unpleasant schedule is of the fixed-interval type.
condition in an attempt to eliminate an The critical variable is time, and it is held
undesirable behavior. constant.

Giving an employee a 2-day suspension Fixed –interval schedule – spacing

from work without pay for showing up rewards at uniform time intervals.
drunk is an example of punishment.
If rewards are distributed in time so that
o Eliminating any reinforcement that is reinforcement are unpredictable, the
schedule is of the variable-interval type.
maintaining a behavior is called
extinction.
Variable –interval schedule – distributing
rewards in time so that reinforcements
College instructors who wish to
are unpredictable.
discourage students from asking
questions in class can eliminate this
When an instructor advises her class
behavior in their students by ignoring
that pop quizzes will be given during the
those who raise their hands to ask

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term and the quizzes will account for 20 The typical OB Mod program follows a five-step
percent of the term grade, she is using a problem-solving model :
variable – interval schedule.
(1) identifying critical behaviors
In a fixed – ratio schedule, after a fixed
or constant number of responses are To identify the critical behaviors that make a
given, a reward is initiated. For significant impact on the employee’s job
example, a piece-rate incentive plan is a performance.
fixed-ratio schedule ; the employee
receives a reward based on the number (2) developing baseline data
of work pieces generated.
Requires the manager to develop some
Fixed – ratio schedule – initiating baseline performance data. This is obtained by
rewards after a fixed or constant number determining the number of times the identified
of responses. behavior is occurring under present conditions.

When the reward varies relative to the (3) identifying behavioral consequences
behavior of the individual, he or she is
said to be reinforced on a variable – Perform a functional analysis to identify the
ratio schedule. behavioral contingencies or consequences of
performance.
Salespeople on commission are
examples of individuals on such a (4) developing and implementing an intervention
reinforcement schedule. On some strategy
occasions, they may make a sale after
only 2 calls on a potential customer. Once the functional analysis is complete, the
manager is ready to develop and implement an
Variable –ratio schedule. Varying the intervention strategy to strengthen desirable
reward relative to the behavior of the performance.
individual.
(5) evaluating performance improvement
Reinforcement Schedules and Behavior
To evaluate performance improvement. OB
Continuous reinforcement schedules can lead to Mod has been used by a number of
early satiation, and under this schedule behavior organizations to improve employee productivity ;
tends to weaken rapidly when reinforcers are to reduce errors, absenteeism, tardiness, and
withheld. However, continuous reinforcers are accident rates ; and to improve friendliness
appropriate for newly emitted, unstable, or low- toward customers.
frequency responses.

In contrast, intermittent reinforcers preclude Problems with OB Mod and Reinforcement

early satiation because they don’t follow every Theory
response. They are appropriate for stable or
high-frequency responses. Think about praise from a supervisor. For
example, assume your course instructor
In general, variable schedules tend to lead to compliments you for asking a good questions. A
higher performance than fixed schedules. For behaviorist would argue that this shapes our
example, as noted previously most employees in behavior because we find the stimulus (the
organizations are paid on fixed-interval compliment) pleasant and therefore respond by
schedules. But such a schedule does not attempting to ask other questions that will
clearly link performance and rewards. The generate the same reward. However, imagine,
reward is given for time spent on the job rather for example, that you had to weigh the pleasant
than for a specific response (performance). feelings produced by your professor’s praise
against the snickers of jealous classmates who
In contrast, variable-interval schedules generate whispered “brown noser.” Your choice of what
high rates of responses and more stable and to do would likely be dictated by weighing the
consistent behavior because of a high- value of these stimuli, which may be a rather
correlation between performance and reward complex mental process involving thinking and
and because of the uncertainty involved – the feeling.
employee tends to be more alert because there
is a surprise factor. Because of these problems, among others,
operant conditioning and behaviorism have been
Behavior Modification superceded by other approaches that
emphasize cognitive processes. There is no
OB Mod – the application of reinforcement denying, though, the contribution of these
concepts to individuals in the work setting. theories to our understanding of human
behavior.

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Reading :
Toby Butterfield worked his way upward in the
Montclair Company until he became assistant
plant manager in the Illinois plant. Finally his
opportunity for a promotion came. The Houston
plant was having difficulty meeting its budget
and production quotas, so he was promoted to
plant manager and transferred to the Houston
plant with instructions to “straighten it out.”

Butterfield was ambitious and somewhat power-

oriented. He believed that the best way to solve
problems was to take control, make decisions
and use his authority to carry out his decisions.
After preliminary study, he issued orders for
each department to cut its budget of 5%. A
week later he instructed all departments to
increase production of 10% by the following
month. He required several new reports and
kept a close watch on operations. At the end of
the second month he dismissed three
supervisors who had failed to meet their
production quotas. Five other supervisors
resigned. Butterfield insisted that all rules and
budgets should be followed and he allowed no
exceptions.

Butterfield’s efforts produced remarkable results.

Productivity quickly exceeded standard by 7%,
and within five months the plant was within
budget. His record was so outstanding that he
was promoted to the New York home office near
the end of his second year. Within a month after
he left, productivity in the Houston plant
collapsed to 15% below standard, and the
budget again was in trouble.

Assignment :

1. Discuss why productivity dropped when

Butterfield left the Houston plant.

2. If you were Butterfield’s New York

manager, what would you tell him about
his approach? How might he respond?