INTRODUCTION TO PRINCIPLIES OF MANAGEMENT

A manager’s primary challenge is to solve problems creatively, and you should view
Management as “the art of getting things done through the efforts of other people”.

The principles of management, are the means by which you actually manage, that is, get things
done through others – individually, in groups, or in organizations. Formally defined, the
principles of management are the activities that “plan, organize, and control the operations of
the basic elements of (people), materials, machines, methods, money and markets, providing
direction and coordination, and giving leadership to human efforts, so as to achieve the sough
objectives of the enterprise.”

Managers are required in all the activities of organizations: budgeting, designing, selling,
creating, financing, accounting, and artistic presentation; the larger the organization, the more
managers are needed. Everyone employed in an organization is affected by management
principles, processes, policies, and practices as they are either a manager or a subordinate to a
manager, and usually they are both.

Managers do not spend all their time managing. Some employees perform only art of the
functions described as managerial – and to that extent, they are mostly managers in limited
areas. For example, those who are assigned the preparation of plans in an advisory capacity to a
manager, to that extent, are making management decisions by deciding which of several
alternatives to present to the management. However, they have no participation in the
functions of organizing, staffing, and supervising and no control over the implementation of the
plan selected from those recommended. Even independent consultants are managers, since
they get most things done through others – those others just happen to be their clients! Of
course, if advisers or consultants have their own staff of subordinates, they become a manager
in the fullest sense of the definition. They must develop business plans; hire, train, organize,
and motivate their staff members; establish internal policies that will facilitate the work and
direct it; and represent the group and its work to those outside of the firm.

1.1 WHO ARE MANAGERS?

Manager is an individual within an organization who is in charge of coordinating the efforts of

individuals or the allocation of resources. They are the one who undertakes management
activities.

Traditional and Contemporary Views of Management

In contrast to the traditional, hierarchical relationship among layers of management and
managers and employees, in the contemporary view, top managers support to serve other
managers and employees (through a process called empowerment), just as the organization
ultimately exists to serve its customers and clients. Empowerment is the process enabling or
authorizing an individual to think, behave, take action, and control work and decision making in
autonomous ways.

Types of Managers
In both the traditional and contemporary views of management, however, there remains the
need for different types of managers.
 Top Managers are responsible for developing the organization’s strategy and being a steward
for its vision and mission.
 Function managers are responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of an area, such as
accounting or marketing.
 Supervisory or team managers are responsible for coordinating a subgroup of a particular
function or a team composed of members from different parts of the organization.
 Line manager leads a function that contributes directly to the products or services the
organization creates; responsible for the production, marketing, and profitability of the product
line (e.g. P&G for Tide detergent)
 Staff manager, in contrast, leads a function that creates indirect inputs. For example, finance
and accounting are critical organization functions but do not typically provide an input into the
final product or service a customer buys. Instead, they serve as a supporting role.
 Project manager has the responsibility for the planning, execution, and closing of any project.
Project managers are often found in construction, architecture, consulting, computer
networking, telecommunications, or software development.
 General manager is someone who is responsible for managing a clearly identifiable revenue-
producing units, such as a store, business unit, or product line. General managers typically must
make decisions across different functions and have rewards tied to the performance of the
entire unit (i.e., store, business unit, product line, etc.). General managers take direction from
their top executives. Then they set specific goals for their own departments to fit in with the
plan. The general manager of production, for example, might have to increase certain product
lines and phase out others. General managers must describe their goals clearly to their support
staff. The supervisory managers see that the goals are met.

The Nature of Managerial Work

Managers are responsible for the processes of getting activities completed efficiently with and
through other people and setting and achieving the firm’s goals through the execution of four
basic management functions: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Both sets of
process utilize human, financial, and material resources.

To meet the demands of performing their functions, managers assume multiple roles. A role is
an organized set of behaviors, and ten roles were identified to be common to the work of all
managers.

As summarized in the following figure, the ten roles are divided into three groups:
interpersonal, informational, and decisional.
The informational roles link all managerial work together. The interpersonal roles ensure that
information is provided. The decisional roles make significant use of the information. The
performance of managerial roles and the requirements of these roles can be played at different
times by the same manager and to different degrees, depending on the level and function of
management. The ten roles are described individually, but they form an integrated whole.

The three interpersonal roles are primarily concerned with interpersonal relationships. In the
figurehead role, the manager represents the organization in all matters of formality. The top-
level manager represents the company legally and socially to those outside of the organization.
The supervisor represents the work group to higher management and high management to the
work group. In the liaison role, the manager interacts with peers and people outside the
organization. The top-level manager uses the liaison role to gain favors and information, while
the supervisor uses it to maintain the routine flow of work. The leader role defines the
relationships between the manager and employees.

The direct relationships with people in the interpersonal roles place the manager in a unique
position to get information. Thus, the three informational roles are primarily concerned with
the information aspects of managerial work. In the monitor role, the manager receives and
collects information. In the role of disseminator, the manager transmits special information into
the organization. The top-level manager receives and transmits more information from people
outside the organization that the supervisor. In the role of spokesperson, the manager
disseminates the organization’s information into its environment. Thus, the top-level manager
is seen as industry expert, while the supervisor is seen as a unit or departmental expert.

The unique access to information places the manager at the center of organizational decision
making. There are four decisional roles managers play. In the entrepreneur role, the manager
initiates change. In the disturbance handler role, the manager deals with threats to the
organization. In the resource allocator role, the manager chooses where the organization will
expend its efforts. In the negotiator role, the manager negotiates on behalf of the organization.
The top-level manager makes the decisions about the organization as a whole, while the
supervisor makes decisions about his or her particular work unit.

The supervisor performs these managerial roles but with different emphasis than higher
managers. Supervisory management is more focused and short-term in outlook. Thus, the
figurehead role becomes less significant for the supervisor. Since leadership permeates all
activities, the leader role is among the most important of all roles at all levels of management.

1.2 LEADERSHIP, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, AND STRATEGY

LEADERSHIP

If management is defined as getting things done through others, then leadership should be
defined as the social and informal sources of influence that you use to inspire action taken by
others. It means mobilizing others to want to struggle toward a common goal. Great leaders
held build an organization’s human capital, then motivate individuals to take concerted action.
Leadership also includes an understanding of when, where, and how to use more formal
sources of authority and power, such as position or ownership.

ENTERPRENEURSHIP

Entrepreneurship is defined as the recognition of opportunities (needs, wants, problems, and

challenges) and the use or creation of resources to implement innovative ideas for new,
thoughtfully planned ventures. Entrepreneur is a person who engages in the process of
entrepreneurship. We describe entrepreneurship as a process because it often involves more
than simply coming up with a good idea – someone also has to convert that idea into action.

STRATEGY

When an organization has a long-term purpose, articulated in clear goals and objectives, and
these goals and objectives can be rolled up into a coherent plan of action, then we would say
that the organization has a strategy. It has a good or even great strategy when this plan also
takes advantage of unique resources and capabilities to exploit a big and growing external
opportunity. Strategy then, is the central, integrated, externally-oriented concept of how an
organization will achieve its objectives. Strategy is about making choices: What do I do today?
What shouldn’t I be doing? What should my organization be doing? What should it stop doing?

Synchronizing Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Strategy

In terms of principles of management, you can think of leadership, entrepreneurship, and

strategic management as answering questions about “who”, “what”, and “how”.
Leadership helps you understand WHO helps lead the organization forward and what the
critical characteristics of good leadership might be. Entrepreneurial firms and entrepreneurs in
general are fanatical about identifying opportunities and solving problems – for any
organization, entrepreneurship answers big questions about “WHAT” an organization’s purpose
might be. Finally, strategic management aims to make sure that the right choices are made –
specifically, that a good strategy is in place – to exploit those big opportunities.

1.3 PLANNING, ORGANIZING, LEADING AND CONTROLLING

A manager’s primary challenge is to solve problems creatively. While drawing from a variety of
academic disciplines, and to help managers respond to the challenge of creative problem
solving, principles of management have long been categorized into the four major functions of
planning, organizing, leading and controlling (the P-O-L-C framework).

PLANNING is the function of management that involves setting objectives and determining a
course of action for achieving those objectives. Planning requires that managers be aware of
environmental conditions facing their organization and forecast future conditions. It also
requires managers to be good decision makers.

Types of plans and planning

Strategic planning involves analyzing competitive opportunities and threats, as well as the
strengths and weaknesses of the organization, and then determining how to position the
organization to compete effectively in their environment. It has a long time frame, often three
years or more. It generally includes the entire organization and includes formulation of
objectives. It is often based on the organization’s mission, which is its fundamental reason for
existence. An organization’s top management most often conducts strategic planning.

Tactical planning is intermediate-range (one to three years) planning that is designed to

develop relatively concrete and specific means to implement the strategic plan. Middle-level
managers often engage in tactical planning.

Operational planning generally assumes the existence of organization-wide or subunit goals

and objectives and specifies ways to achieve them. Operational planning is short-range (less
than a year) planning that is designed to develop specific action steps that support the strategic
and tactical plans.

ORGANIZING is the function of management that involves developing an organizational

structure and allocating human resources to ensure the accomplishments of objectives. The
structure of the organization is the framework within which effort is coordinated. The structure
is usually represented by an organization chart, which provides a graphic representation of the
chain of command within an organization. Decisions made about the structure of an
organization are generally referred to as organizational design decisions.

LEADING involves the social and informal sources of influence that your use to inspire action
taken by others. If managers are effective leaders, their subordinates will be enthusiastic about
exerting effort to attain organizational objectives.

CONTROLLING involves ensuring that performance does not deviate from standards.
Controlling consists of three steps, which include (1) establishing performance standards, (2)
comparing actual performance against standards, and (3) taking corrective action when
necessary.
Performance standards are often stated in monetary terms such as revenue, costs, or profits
but may also be stated in other terms, such as units produced, number of defective products, or
levels of quality or customer service.

The managerial function of controlling should not be confused with control in the behavioral or
manipulative sense. This function does not imply that managers should attempt to control or to
manipulate the personalities, values, attitudes, or emotions of their subordinates. Instead, this
ensure that the work-related activities of subordinates are consistent with and contributing
toward the accomplishment of organizational and departmental objectives.

The management functions of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling are widely
considered to be the best means of describing the manager’s job, as well as the best way to
classify accumulated knowledge about the study of management. Although there have been
tremendous changes in the environment faced by managers and the tolls used by managers to
perform their roles, managers still perform these essential functions.

1.4 ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE

In a traditional sense, the economic performance of a firm is a function of its success in

producing benefits for its owners in particular, through product innovation and the efficient use
of resources. When you talk about this type of economic performance is a business context,
people typically understand you to be speaking about some form of profit.

Economic profit is the difference between revenue and the opportunity cost of all resources
used to produce the items sold. It includes implicit returns as costs. Customers play big role in
economic profits. Profits accrue to firms because customers are willing to pay a certain price for
a product or service, as opposed to a competitor’s product or service of a higher or lower price.
If customers are only willing to make purchases based on price, then a firm, at least in the face
of competition, will only be able to generate profit if it keeps its costs under control.

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Social and environmental performance are collectively referred to as corporate social

responsibility (CSR). CSR is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by
taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees,
shareholders, communities, and the environment in all aspects of their operations. This
obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation and sees
organizations voluntarily taking further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and
their families, as well as for the local community and society at large.

Looking after the environment is a company’s responsibility, too

 
As companies establish their presence through their products and services that the public
delight in, they begin to dabble in efforts that develop and aid communities through various
projects and programs focused on different aspects like women empowerment, poverty
reduction, and more.
These efforts are known as corporate social responsibility (CSR), a management concept where
companies integrate concerns in their business operations and interactions with their
stakeholders. While these responsibilities may vary from company to company, they tend to
focus on issues that require immediate attention.
Reforestation projects are a common program that many companies practice through their
corporate social arm.
Social concerns are the most common initiatives that CSRs deal with, but as the environment’s
condition continues to be a pressing issue around the world for several years now, major
companies have taken the necessary steps to promote sustainability.
For instance, the San Miguel Corporation, through its CSR arm San Miguel Foundation Inc., has
made it its mission to protect the Philippines’ land, water, and air implemented throughout
their numerous production plants.
The foundation’s Task Force Hangin helps the company’s plans to comply with the clean air act
by determining the best available fuel and control technology for the plants’ fuel-burning
equipment. San Miguel Corporation is known for its food and beverage products that span
alcoholic drinks, processed foods, and more.
On a smaller scale, San Miguel Foundation Inc. conducts tree-planting projects in areas
identified by various SMC production plants. These projects are also promptly scheduled to
coincide with known plant celebrations.
Another company that practices CSR toward the environment is the Ayala Corporation. Through
its social arm, Ayala Foundation, Inc., the company implemented reforestation projects to
enhance air quality, promote diversity, and give back to the environment. In 2019, 297
volunteers across the Ayala Group participated in Project Kasibulan, a reforestation movement
that resulted in 6,929 seedlings planted in celebration of the company’s 185th anniversary.

The Ayala Group also practices proper waste management to lessen its carbon footprint.
The company also prides itself on its successful waste management program, currently
reflected in three strategies—reduction, recycling, and recovery—implemented throughout the
group. Furthermore, the Ayala Corporation is also developing a group-wide waste reduction
program that can systematically address solid waste to reduce waste that reaches landfills and
pollutes oceans.
Plastic pollution is also a prevalent concern in today’s society. One of the leading sources of
plastics is bottles from beverage companies. Coca-cola Philippines realized the environmental
impact of plastics if left untreated. As a result, the beverage company aims to collect and
recycle cans and bottles for each one they produce. The company is also planning to use 100
percent sustainable materials for its packaging.
Since water is a key ingredient in Coca-cola Philippines’ operations, the company also
implemented a water stewardship program that focuses on sustainable water security through
local water replenishment, smart water policies, and responsible water use in their operations.
Coca-cola promises to recycle bottles and cans as well as develop a 100 percent sustainable
packaging.
Each person has a role to play when caring for the environment. Even major companies,
through their social arms, lend a hand to preserve the natural resources that they benefit from
as well. It is through the cooperation between the stakeholders and these companies that their
environmental efforts will be fully realized and propel the Philippines towards a sustainable
future.

1.5 PERFORMANCE OF INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS

Principles of management are concerned with organization-level outcomes such as economic,

social, or environmental performance, innovation, or ability to change and adapt. However, for
something to happen at the level of an organization, something must typically also be
happening within the organization at the individual or team level. Normally though,
organizations have more than one person, which is why we must understand the concepts of
individual and group performance.

Individual-Level Performance draws upon those things you have to do in your job, or in-role
performance, and those things that add value but which aren’t part of your formal description.
These “extras” are called extra-role performance or organization citizenship behaviors (OCBs).
At this point, it is probably simplest to consider an in-role performance as having productivity
and quality dimensions associated with certain standards that you must meet to do your job. In
contrast, OCBs can be understood as individual behaviors that are beneficial to the organization
and are discretionary, not directly or explicitly recognized by the formal reward system.

Group-Level Performance. A group is a collection of individuals. Group-level performance

focuses on both the outcomes and process of collections of individuals, or groups. Individuals
can work on their own agendas in the context of a group. Groups might consist of project-
related groups, such as a product group or an entire store or branch of a company. The
performance of a group consists of the inputs of the group minus any process loss that result in
the final output, such as the quality of a product and the ramp-up time to production or the
sales for a given month. Process loss is any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good
problem solving.

Compatibility of Individual and Group Performance

As a manager, you will need to understand the compatibility of individual and group
performance, typically with respect to goals and incentives. Incentives need to be aligned
between the individuals and groups. For example, if the organization’s goal is to increase group
performance but the firms’ performance appraisal process rewards individual employee
productivity, then the firm is unlikely to create a strong team culture.

1.6 Your Principles of Management Survivor’s Guide

1. Assess Your Learning Style

Principles of management courses typically combine knowledge about skills and the
development and application of those skills themselves. For these reasons, it is helpful for you
to develop your own strategy for learning about and developing management skills. The first
part of this strategy should be based on your own disposition toward learning. The second part
of this strategy should follow some form of the gauge-discover-reflect process.

Active and Reflective Learners. Everybody is active sometimes and reflective sometimes. Your
preference for one category or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild. A balance of the
two is desirable. If you always act before reflecting, you can jump into things prematurely and
get into trouble, while if you spend too much time reflecting, you may never get anything done.
Sensing and Intuitive Learners. Everybody is sensing sometimes and intuitive sometimes. Here
too, your preference for one or the other may be strong, moderate, or mild. To be effective as a
learner and problem solver, you need to be able to function both ways. If you overemphasize
intuition, you may miss important details or make careless mistakes in calculations or hand-on
work; if you overemphasize sensing, you may rely too much on memorization and familiar
methods and not concentrate enough on understanding and innovative thinking.

Visual and Verbal Learners. Visual learners remember best what they see – pictures, diagrams,
flowcharts, timelines, films, and demonstrations. Verbal learners get more out of words –
written and spoken explanations. Everyone learns more when information is presented both
visually and verbally.

Sequential and Global Learners. Sequential learners tent to follow logical, stepwise paths in
finding solutions; global learners may be able to solve complex quickly or put things together in
novel ways once they have grasped the big picture, but they may have difficulty explaining how
they did it. Sequential learners tend to gain understanding in linear steps, with each step
following logically from the previous one. Global learners tend to learn in large jumps,
absorbing material almost randomly without seeing connections, and then suddenly “getting
it”.

2. Adapt Your Style

Active Learners – study in a group in which the members take turns explaining different topics
to one another. Work with others to guess what you will be asked on the next test, and figure
out how you will answer. You will always retain information better if you find ways to do
something with it.

Reflective Learners – Don’t simply read or memorize the material; stop periodically to review
what you have read and to think of possible questions or application. You might find it helpful
to write short summaries of readings or class notes in your own words. Doing so may take extra
time but will enable you to retain the material more effectively.

Sensory Leaners – When most of the material is abstract and theoretical, ask for specific
examples of concepts and procedures, and find out how the concepts apply in practice. If
enough specifics were not provided, try to find some by brainstorming with friends or
classmates.

Intuitive Learners – Ask for interpretations or theories that link the facts, or try to find the
connections yourself. You may also be prone to careless mistakes on tests because you are
impatient with details and don’t like repetition. Take time to read entire question before you
start answering, and be sue to check your results.

Visual Learners – Try to find diagrams, sketches, schematics, photographs, flowcharts, or any
other visual representation of course material that is predominantly verbal.
Verbal Learners – Write summaries or outlines of course materials in your own words. Working
in groups can be particularly effective: you gain understanding of material by hearing
classmates’ explanations, and you learn even more when you do the explaining.

3. Gauge-Discover-Reflect

You have already begun to apply the spirit of what we recommend in this third part of the
development of your principles of management survival kit, by gauging your learning style. The
three essential components are (1) gauge – take stock of your knowledge and capabilities about
a topic; (2) discover – learn enough about a topic so that you can set specific development goals
on which you can apply and practice, and latter gauge again your progress toward your set
goals; and (3) reflect – step back and look at the ways you have achieved your goals, take the
opportunity to set new ones, and chronical this experience and thought process in a daily
journal.

Gauge. It is always good to start any self-development process by getting some sense of where
you are. That is why we commence with the gauge stage. For learning and developing in the
area of principles of management, such knowledge is essential. The obvious value of
commencing your learning process with some form of assessment is that you have a clear
starting point, in terms of knowledge.

Discover. The discovery stage of your principles of management survival kit has four related
facets. (1) learn, (2) set goals, (3) apply and (4) practice.
 Learn – build your knowledge base about a particular topic.
 Set SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Aggressive, Realistic, Timely
 Apply and Practice – Your objective here should be to apply and practice a subject long
enough that, when you gauge it again, you are likely to see some change or progress.

Reflect. This final stage has two parts: (1) gauge again and (2) record. In addition to the goals
you are evaluating, there are numerous things to write about in a journal. You can reflect on
the day, the week, or even the year. You can reflect on events that you have been a part of or
people you have met. Look for conclusions that you may have made or any conflicts that you
faced. Most important, write about how you felt. This will allow you to examine your own
emotional responses. You may find that you need to make a personal action or response to
those conflicts. The conclusions that you make from your journal entries are the ingredients to
self-growth. Facing those conflicts may also change your life for the better as you are able to
grow as a person.

PERSONALITY, ATTITUDES, AND WORK BEHAVIORS

Individuals bring a number of differences to work. They have a variety of personalities, values
and attitudes. When they enter into organizations, their stable or transient characteristics affect
how they behave and perform. Moreover, companies hire people with the expectation that
they have certain knowledge, skills, abilities, personalities, and values. Therefore, it is important
for managers to understand the individual characteristics that matter for employees and
manager behaviors.
2.1 PERSONALITY AND VALUES

1. Personality encompasses a person’s relatively stable feeling, thoughts, and behavioral

patterns. Each of us has a unique personality that differentiates us from other people,
and understanding someone’s personality gives us clues about how that person is likely
to act and feel in a variety of situations. To manage effectively, it is helpful to
understand the personalities of different employees. Having this knowledge is also
useful for placing people into jobs and organizations.

The big five personality traits are Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness
and Neuroticism (OCEAN).

Openness is the degree to which a person is curious, original, intellectual, creative, and open to
new ideas. People high in openness seem to thrive in situations that require flexibility and
learning new things. They are highly motivated to learn new skills, and they do well in training
settings.

Conscientiousness refers to the degree to which a person is organized, systematic, punctual,

achievement-oriented, and dependable. Conscientiousness is the one personality trait that
uniformly predicts how high a person’s performance will be across a variety of occupations and
jobs.

Extraversion is the degree to which a person is outgoing, talkative, sociable, and enjoys
socializing. One of the established findings is that they tend to be effective in jobs involving
sales.

Agreeableness is the degree to which a person is affable, tolerant, sensitive, trusting, kind, and
warm. In other words, people who are high in agreeableness are likeable people who get along
with others.

Neuroticism refers to the degree to which a person is anxious, irritable, temperamental, and
moody. It is perhaps the only Big Five dimensions where scoring high is undesirable. Neurotic
people have a tendency to have emotional adjustment problems and habitually experience
stress and depression. People very high in Neuroticism experience a number of problems at
work.

Other Personality Dimensions

In addition to the Big Five, researchers have proposed various other dimensions, or traits, of
personality. These include self-monitoring, proactivec personality, self-esteem and self-efficacy.

Self-monitoring refers to the extent to which a person is capable of monitoring his or her
actions and appearance in social situations. People who are social monitors are social
chameleons who understand what the situation demands and act accordingly, while low social
monitors tend to act the way they feel.

Proactive personality refers to a person’s inclination to fix what is wrong, change things, and
use initiative to solve problems. Instead of waiting to be told what to do, proactive people take
action to initiate meaningful change and remove the obstacles they face along the way.
Proactive individuals tend to be more successful in their job searches.
Self-esteem is the degree to which a person has overall positive feelings about himself or
herself. People with high self-esteem view themselves in a positive light, are confident, and
respect themselves. In contract, people with low self-esteem experience high levels of self-
doubt and question their self-worth. High self-esteem is related to higher levels of satisfactions
with one’s job and higher levels of performance on the job.

Self-efficacy is a belief that one can perform a specific task successfully. Research shows that
the belief that win can do something is a good predictor of whether we can actually do it. Self-
efficacy is different from other personality traits in that it is job specific. You may have self-
efficacy in being successful academically, but low self-efficacy in relation to your ability to fix
your car. At the same time, people have a certain level of generalized self-efficacy, and they
have the belief that whatever task or hobby they tackle, they are likely to be successful in it.

PERSONALITY TESTING IN EMPLOYEE SECTION

Personality is a potentially important predictor of work behavior. In job interviews, companies

try to assess a candidate’s personality and the potential for a good match, but interviews are
only as good as the people conducting them. One method some companies use to improve this
match and detect the people who are potentially good job candidates is personality testing.
Companies using them believe that these tests improve the effectiveness of their selection and
reduce turnover.

2. Values refer to people’s stable life goals, reflecting what is important to them. Values
are established throughout one’s life as a result of accumulating life experiences, and
values tend to be relatively stable.

Our behavior is not only a function of our personality and values but also of the situation.
We interpret our environment, formulate responses, and act accordingly.

2.2 PERCEPTION

Perception may be defined as the process by which individuals detect and interpret
environmental stimuli. What makes human perception so interesting is that we don not
solely respond to the stimuli in our environment. We go beyond the information that is
present in our environment, pay selective attention to some aspects of the environment,
and ignore other elements that may be immediately apparent to other people.

Visual Perception. Our visual perception definitely goes beyond the physical information
available to use; this phenomenon is commonly referred to as “optical illusions”. Managers
rely on their visual perception to form their opinions about people and objects around them
and to make sense of data presented in graphical form. Therefore, understanding how our
visual perception may be biased is important.

Self-Perception. Human beings are prone to errors and biases when perceiving themselves.
Moreover, the type of bias people have depends on their personality. Many people suffer
from self-enhancement bias. This is the tendency to overestimate our performance and
capabilities and see ourselves in a more positive light than others see us.

Social Perception. How we perceive other people in our environment is also shaped by our
biases. Moreover, how we perceive others will shape our behavior, which in turn will shape
the behavior of the person we are interacting with.

2.3 WORK ATTITUDES

 3. Work Attitudes. How we behave at work often depends on how we feel about being
there. Therefore, making sense of how people behave depends on understanding their
work attitudes. An attitude refers to our opinions, beliefs, and feelings about aspects of
our environment. At work, two job attitudes have the greatest potential to influence
how we behave. These are job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Job satisfaction refers to the feelings people have toward their job.
Organization commitment is the emotional attachment people have toward the company
they work for.

Factors Contributing to job satisfaction and Organization Commitment

a. Job Characteristics. Employees tend to be more satisfied and committed in jobs that
involve certain characteristics.

b. Organizational Justice and the Psychological Contract – a strong influence over our
satisfaction level is how fairly we are treated. People pay attention to the fairness of
company policies and procedures, fair and kind treatment from supervisors, and fairness
of their pay and other rewards they receive from the company.

c. Psychological contract is the unspoken, informal understanding that an employee will

contribute certain things to the organization and will receive certain things in return.
Under the psychological contract, an employee may believe that if he or she works hard
and receives favorable performance evaluations, her or she will receive an annual
bonus, periodic raises and promotions, and will not be laid off.

d. Relationships at Work. Two strong predictors of our happiness at work and commitment
to the company are our relationships with coworkers and managers. The people we
interact with, how friendly they are, whether wea re socially accepted in our work
group, whether we are treated with respect by them are important to our happiness at
work.

e. Stress. Not surprisingly, the amount of stress present in a job is related to employee
satisfaction and commitment. Stressors range from environmental ones (noise, heat,
inadequate ventilation) to interpersonal ones (organizational politics, conflicts with
coworkers) to organization ones (pressure to avoid making mistakes, worrying about the
security of the job). Some jobs, such as intensive care unit nurse and military fighter
pilot, are inherently very stressful.

Assessing Work Attitudes in the Workplace

If there are companywide issues that make employees unhappy and disengaged, these need to
be resolved. There are at least two systematic ways in which companies can track work
attitudes:

a. Attitude surveys – are given to employees tracking their work attitudes. Companies can
get more out of these surveys if responses are held confidential. If employees become
concerned that their individual responses will be shared with their immediate manager,
they are less likely to respond honestly. Moreover, success of these surveys depends on
the credibility of management in the eye of employees. If management periodically
collects these surveys but no action comes out of them, employees may adopt a more
 cynical attitude and start ignoring these surveys, hampering the success of future
efforts.

b. Exit interviews – involve a meeting with the departing employee. This meeting is often
conducted by a member of the human resource management department. If conducted
well, this meeting may reveal what makes employees dissatisfied at work and give
management clues about areas for improvement.

2.4 THE INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVE: THE ROLE OF IT

The fit between what we bring to our work environment and the environmental
demands influences not only our behavior but also our work attitudes. Therefore,
person-job fit and person-organization fit are positively related to job satisfaction and
commitment. When our abilities match job demands, and when our values match
company values, we tend to be more satisfied with our job and more committed to the
company we work for.

When companies hire employees, they are interested in assessing at least two types of
fit. Person-organization fit refers to the degree to which a person’s personality, values,
goals, and other characteristics match those of the organization.
Person-job fit is the degree to which a person’s knowledge, skills, abilities, and other
characteristics match the job demands.

2.5 WORK BEHAVIORS

One of the important objective of the field of organization behavior is to understand

why people behave the way they do. Which behaviors are we referring to here?

Job Performance and Organizational Citizenship – desirable

Absenteeism and Turnover – undesirable

Job performance refers to the level to which an employee successfully fulfills the factors
included in the job description. For each job, the content of job performance may differ.
Measures of job performance include quality and quantity of work performed by the
employee, the accuracy and speed with which the job is performed, and the overall
effectiveness of the person on the job.

Organization Citizenship Behaviors (OCB) are voluntary behaviors employees perform

to help others and benefit the organization. Helping a new coworker understand how
things work in this company, volunteering to organize the company picnic, and
providing suggestions to management about how to improve business processes are
some examples of citizenship behaviors. These behaviors contribute to the smooth
operation of business.

Absenteeism refers to Unscheduled absences from work. Such absences are costly to
companies because of their unpredictable nature, affecting a manager’s ability to
Control the firm’s or department’s budget. When an employee has an unscheduled
absence from work, companies struggle to find replacement workers at the last minute.
This may involve hiring contingent workers, having other employees work overtime, or
scrambling to cover for an absent coworker.
Turnover refers to an employee’s leaving an organization. Employee turnover has
potentially harmful consequences, such as poor customer service and poor company-
wide performance. When employees leave, their jobs still need to be performed by
someone, so companies spend time recruiting, hiring, and training new employees, all
 the while suffering from lower productivity. Yet, not all turnover is bad. Turnover is
particularly a problem when high-performing employees leave, while a poor performer’s
leaving may actually give the company a chance to improve productivity and morale.

2.6 DEVELOPING YOUR POSITIVE ATTITUDE SKILLS

Have you ever wondered how you could be happier at work and how greater work
satisfaction could improve your overall effectiveness? Here are some ideas that may
help you achieve a great sense of peace for yourself as well as when you are working
with a negative coworker.

1. Leverage your Big Five Traits. Your personality is a big part of your happiness. Which of
the Big Five positive traits are you strongest on? Be aware of them and look for
opportunities to express them at work.

2. Find a job and company that fit you well. Good fit with the job and company are
important to your happiness. This starts with knowing yourself, your chosen career, and
the particular job in question: What do you want form the job? What do you enjoy
doing?

3. Get accurate information about the job and the company. Ask detailed questions about
what life is like in this company. Do your research. Read about the company; use your
social network to understand the company’s culture.

4. Develop good relationships at work. Make friends. Try to get a mentor if your company
does not have a formal mentoring program. Approach a person you admire and attempt
to build a relationship with this person. An experienced mentor can be a great help in
navigating life at a company. Your social network can help you weather the bad days
and provide you with emotional and instrumental support during your time at a
company as well as afterward.

5. Pay is important, but job characteristics matter more to your job satisfaction. So don’t
sacrifice the job itself for a bit more money. When choosing a job, look at the level of
challenge and the potential of the job to make you feel engaged.

6. Be proactive in managing organization life. If the job is stressful, cope with it by effective
time management and having a good social network, as well as being proactive in
getting to the source of stress. If you don’t have enough direction, ask for it!

7. Know when to leave. If the job makes you unhappy over an extended period of time and
there is little hope of solving the problems, it may be time to look elsewhere.