ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

UNIT-II

Individual Behavior

Individual Behavior: - It is the study of individual’s personality, learning, attitudes,

motivation, and job satisfaction. Example − the personal interview round is conducted
to interact with candidates to check their skills, apart from those mentioned in the
resume.

Group Behavior: - Group behavior studies the formation of organization, structure of

organization and effectiveness of organization. The group efforts made towards the
achievement of organization’s goal is group behavior. In short, it is the way how a group
behaves. Example − Strike, rally etc.
Each person is substantially different from all others in terms of their personalities,
needs, demographic factors and past experiences and/or because they are placed in
different physical settings, time periods or social surroundings. This diversity needs to
be recognized and viewed as a valuable asset to organizations.
Individual performance forms the basis of organizational performance. The four key
influences on individual’s behavior and motivation are:

a. Individual characteristics—e.g., personality, attitudes, perceptions, values.

b. Individual motivation—interacts with ability to work to determine individual
performance.
c. Rewards/punishment—use of behavior modification techniques to enhance
performance and control misbehavior.
d. Stress.
What is Personality?

According to Gordon Allport, “Personality is the dynamic organization within the

individuals of those psychophysical systems that determine his unique adjustments to
his environments”.

Feist and Feist said, “personality is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique
characteristics that give both consistency and individuality to a person’s behavior.”
By personality Ogburn means “the integration of the socio-psychological behavior of
the human being, represented by habits of action and feeling, attitudes and opinions.”

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 behavior”.

Lawrence A. Pewin said, “Personality represents those structural and dynamic

properties of an individual or individuals as they reflect themselves in characteristic
responses to situations”.

Hence personality is a sum total of ways in which an individual reacts and interacts with
others. It is individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling and
behaving. It is the supreme realization of the innate habit of a living being.

It is an act of courage flung in the face of life, the absolute affirmation of all that
constitutes the individual, the most successful adaptation to the universal conditions of
existence, coupled with the greatest possible freedom of self-determination.

For example- he has a very pleasant personality or he was an influential personality in

genetic engineering.

Characteristics of Personality

The term personality is used in various senses.

Generally, it is used to indicate the external outlook of an individual. In philosophy, it

means internal quality.

But in social psychology, the term personality indicates-neither the external or outward
pattern nor does it indicate the internal quality. It means an integrated whole. In the
modem world and psychology, it has come to indicate the sum total of an individual’s
characteristics and qualities.

Various thinkers, social psychologists, and others have defined personality in various
ways. It is a sum of physical, mental and social qualities in an integrated manner.

Thus, personality is the sum of the ideas, attitudes, and values of a person which
determine his role in society and form an integral part of his character. Personality is
acquired by the individual as a result of his participation in group life. It refers to
something much more essential and enduring about a person.
 Beyond this basic point of agreement, personality has other characteristics or features
in common.

 Personality is something which is unique in each individual.

 Personality refers particularly to the persistent qualities of an individual.
 Personality represents a dynamic orientation of an organism to the environment.
 Personality is greatly influenced by social interactions.
 Personality represents a unique organization of persistent dynamic and social
predisposition.
 Consistency.
 Psychological and physiological.
 It impacts behaviors and actions.
 Multiple expressions.

Personality is something which is unique in each individual

Personality refers to internal as well as external qualities, some of which are quite
general. But it is unique to each individual. It is not possible for a person to reproduce
or imitate the qualities of the personality of another person.

Personality refers particularly to persistent qualities of an individual

Every individual has a certain feeling as well as other permanent traits and qualities.

Personality is mainly composed of the persistent or permanent qualities that exhibit

themselves in form of social behavior and attempt to make an adjustment with the
environment.

Personality represents a dynamic orientation of an organism to the environment

Personality represents the process of learning. It takes place in reference to the

environment. We do not acquire all the traits of personality at once.

Personality is greatly influenced by social interactions

Personality is not an individual quality. It is a result of social- interaction.

In other words, it means that when we come in contact with other members of society,
we acquire certain qualities while We exhibit certain others. All these come to form
personality.
Personality represents a unique organization of persistent dynamic and social
predisposition

In personality, various qualities are not put together.

They are, in fact, integrated into one. This integration is nothing but a result of
organization which may be different from man to man. The behavior of a person
directed to one particular individual may differ from the behavior of another person.

That is why; we put the condition of a suitable environment. This suitability is

concerned with individual specificity.

Consistency

There is generally a recognizable order and regularity to behaviors. Essentially, people

act in the same ways or similar ways in a variety of situations.

Psychological and physiological

Personality is a psychological construct, but research suggests that it is also influenced

by biological processes and needs.

It impacts behaviors and actions

Personality does not just influence how we move and respond in our environment; it
also causes us to act in certain ways.

Multiple expressions

Personality is displayed in more than just behavior. It can also be seen in our thoughts,
feelings, close relationships, and other social interactions.

Actually, personality is the unique combination of patterns that influence behavior,

thought, motivation, and emotion in a human being. There are many approaches to the
modem psychological study of personality, including the psychodynamic, learning,
humanistic, biological, trait, and cultural perspectives.

It can be described as how a person affects others, how he understands, and views
himself, and his pattern of inner and outer measurable traits. It encompasses the
relatively stable feelings, thoughts, and behavioral patterns a person has.

In fact, our personality changes over long periods of time.

 Factors of Personality

In the field of organizational behavior, personality is the aggregate of a person’s

feelings, thinking, behaviors and responses to different situations and people.

Our personality 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. In order to effectively manage organizational behavior, an understanding of
different employees’ personalities is helpful.

Having this knowledge is also useful for placing people in jobs and organizations.
Having a strong personality is the key to success. This is also a key determinant of good
leadership.

A person with a positive attitude can direct his thoughts, control his emotions and
regulate his attitude. Every person has a different personality and there are a lot of
factors which contribute to that personality. We call them the ‘determinants of
personality’ or the ‘factors of personality’.

 Environmental Factors.
 Physical Factors.
 Situational Factors.
 Hereditary.
 Family and Social Factors.
 Identification Process.
 Cultural Factors.
 Intelligence.
 Gender Differences.
 Psychological Factors.

Environmental Factors

Among the factors that exert pressures on our personality formation are the culture in
which we are raised; our early conditioning; the norms among our family, friends, and
social groups; and other influences that we experience.

These environmental factors play a substantial role in shaping our personalities.

It establishes the attitudes, values, norms, and perceptions of an individual. Based on

the cultures and traditions, different senses of right and wrong are formed in individuals.
These environmental factors also include the neighborhood a person lives in, his school,
college, university, workplace, friends, parents; everybody plays a role as the
determinants of one’s personality.

Physical Factors

There are many physical factors which will determine a person’s personality. These
physical factors include the overall physical structure of a person: his height, weight,
color, gender, beauty, body language, etc.

Physical factors are one of the major reasons for that. Most of the physical structures
change from time to time, and so does the personality. With exercises, cosmetics,
surgeries etc. many physical features are changed, and therefore, the personality of the
individual also evolves.

Situational Factors

The situational factors can be commonly observed when a person behaves contrastingly
and exhibits different traits and characteristics. In this way, situational factors impact a
personality in a significant way.

They often bring out the traits of a person that are not commonly seen. An individual’s
personality, although generally stable and consistent, does change in different
situations.

The different demands of different situations call forth different aspects of one’s
personality. So we shouldn’t look at personality patterns in isolation (canon, & Porter,
19&). This aspect is very important for organization behavior because the manager has
control over the organizational situation.

Hereditary

Heredity refers to those factors that were determined at conception. Physical structure,
facial attractiveness, gender, temperament, muscle composition, and reflexes, energy
level, and biological rhythms are characteristics that are generally considered to be
either completely or substantially influenced by the parents.

Hereditary predisposes a certain mental, physical and emotional states. It has been
established through research that those psychological characteristics can be transmitted
through hereditary. However such conclusive proof is not available for human beings.
Family and Social Factors

Family and social groups have the most significant impact on personality development.
Parents and other family members have a strong influence on the personality
development of the child. Parents have more effect on personality development as
compared to other members of the family.

Besides a person’s home environment and family members, there are other influences
arising from social factors like- friends, neighbor, relatives, etc. These groups have their
impact through socialization and identification process.

Identification Process

The identification process occurs when a person tries to identify himself with some
person to whom he feels ideal in the family.

First identification can be viewed as the similarity of behavior between the child and
the model.

Second identification can be looked in as the child motives or desires to be like the
model.

Third, it can be viewed as the process through which the child actually takes on the
attributes of the model.

Cultural Factors

Culture is the underlying determinant of human decision making. It generally

determines attitude towards independence, aggression competition, and cooperation.
Each culture expects and trains its members to behave in a way that is acceptable to the
group

Intelligence

There is definitely some relationship between intelligence and personality. Intelligence

is mainly hereditary. Persons who are very intelligent can make a better adjustment in
home, school, and society than those persons who are less intelligent.
Gender Differences

Boys are generally more assertive, tough-minded and vigorous. They have better need
to succeed with regard to interest and aptitudes. Boys show interest in machinery and
outdoor activities. They prefer adventures.

But girls are less vigorous games. They are quieter and interested in personal
appearance. They are more injured by personal, emotional and social problems.

Thus gender differences play a vital role in the development of the personality of an
individual.

Psychological Factors

Psychological factors play a big role in the functioning of human behavior and the
development of one’s personality. Some of the psychological factors are-
motives, acquired interests, attitudes, character, intellectual capacities etc.

Beyond the joint influence of these factors however, the relative contribution of each
factor to personality varies with the character or personality process involved and
perhaps with the individual concerned.

Roles of Personality in Organizational Behavior

Personality plays a key role in organizational behavior because of the way that
people think, feel, and behave effects many aspects of the workplace. People’s
personalities influence their behavior in groups, their attitudes, and the way they make
decisions.

In the workplace, personality affects such things as motivation, leadership,

performance, and conflict. The more that management understands how personality in
organizational behavior works, the better equipped they are to be effective and
accomplish their goals.

One factor which determines the importance of personality in OB is the environment

where the personality of an individual is being studied; after all, personality’s impact
on an organization is relative and depends on how the organization has been structured.

Weakly structured organizations with loosely defined roles tend to get the most impact,
compared to strongly structured organizations with more defined roles. People have
many different views of the world that affect their personalities.
When a situation arises, an individual will handle it based upon his or her personal
values, beliefs, and personality traits. These traits are developed throughout a person’s
lifetime and cannot be easily changed, so it is more helpful for managers to attempt to
understand this rather than to fight it.

There are 2 types of values governing our behaviors in an organization; personal values
and the commonly held values of an organization.

We tend to act in accordance with these values, which in turn will define what is ethical
and what it is not.

The beliefs and values remain relatively stable regardless of what situation we are in.
Our feelings and behaviors, on the other hand, tend to be easily influenced by the
environment in which we function. Traits such as openness, emotional stability, and
agreeableness all predict that an individual will have less conflict, work better in teams,
and have positive attitudes about his or her work.

People with this type of personality should be placed in situations where they would be
working with or leading others. Positive-interpersonal skill is a personality trait that
greatly affects the workplace.

Individuals who exhibit this trait generally enjoy working with other people, and they
have the empathy and sensitivity that enables them to get along well with others.

Decision-making and independence are greatly affected by personality.

Personality traits such as self-efficacy, conscientiousness, and pro-activity contribute to

good decision-making under pressure and independence, while traits such as
neuroticism and not being open do not.

In the light of these reflections, our personal values and personalities govern our actions
and behaviors, and since organizational behavior is built upon our personal values, it is
of paramount importance to understand personalities of employees to make good use of
organizational behavior.

One of the fundamental issues in the understanding of people’s behavior is how we

understand the person in an organizational setting. Jackson and Carter (2000) pointed
out that in work organizations; we often take a limited view of the person, focusing
more on the degree of willingness to pursue organizational goals.

Work-related behavior of people in an organization stems from both environmental and

individual factors. From the environmental approach, interpersonal, group, and societal
influences and individual factors extend across cognitive abilities, acquired expertise,
personality styles, motivation, and physical attributes.

A common aspect of personality is the manner in which we think of its effect on

behavior. We tend to think of this in terms of a person with a particular set of traits.

Perception
Perception is defined as “a process by which individuals organise and interpret their
sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment (Robbins)”.
(a) What one perceives may be different from objective reality. A person coming
late on duty may be perceived as casual and tardy while there may be social
problems faced by him.

(b) There is often disagreement among the individuals in the organization in

relation to pay and allowances, administrative back up, policies and
procedures and the place of work itself. An individual who displays a positive
attitude may perceive above factors as good and conducive to work
environment while the others may consider them inadequate. Employees also
compare themselves on job assignment. If a job is assigned to one individual
who may consider the assignment in excess to his job entitlement on the
contrary if he is not given the job, he may consider it as neglecting him in
allocation of responsibilities.

(c) It would often be observed that the manager is rated differently by his
subordinates because of the different perception of the individual about the
manager. The study of perception is very important in the organization
because it is necessary for the manager to perceive individuals correctly
irrespective of their status and perceive each of the situation as close to the
real fact or as it exists by interpreting the sensory reflects in correct way.
Sensation and perception are complex phenomenon. Perception is outcome of
sensation and is much broader in its nature. Perception involves observing
data, selecting, and organizing the data based on sensory reflects and
interpreting the same as per personality attributes of the perceiver. That is why
no two individuals can perceive an employee in the same manner, for one he
may be efficient while for the other he may be perceived as useless.
 Factors Influencing Perception: Following three factors influence the
perception
Object/Target
Perceiver

Attitude Time Shape

Motives Work setting Size
Interests Social setting Shade
Experience Sound
Expectations Silhouette
Movement
Background

Perceiver: When an individual looks at the object and attempts to interpret the same,
what he or she sees it is largely influenced by the personal characteristics. Perception
is a matter of attitude that can be positive or negative. Some workers would feel and
perceive that the prevailing working conditions in the organizations are congenial for
work and it contributes positively while for others, it would be inadequate and
demand improvement. This is indicative of positive and negative attitude patterns.
Motive is another factor that plays an important role in perception. Motive is nothing
but unsatisfied needs. This exerts considerable influence on perception. Boss who is
insecure perceives subordinate who does well as threat to his position. Personal
insecurity is a threat to personal survival in a job especially if one is frequently
transferred.
Interest is persons liking for a particular thing in an individual. May be some people
get attracted to eyes of a girl because he has interest in the eyes while other person
may be interested in hair style, therefore different person (perceiver) will perceive a
girl based on perceivers’ interest. It has also been observed in the work places that
workers would display interest as per their liking. Students in the class when
preoccupied are not attentive in the class.
Past experience also plays an important role in perception. Just as interest narrows
down one’s perception so does past experience. In contrast past experience nullifies
an object interest. For example second or subsequent visit to a historic place. Object
or events that have not been experienced before are more noticeable and creates an
interest. For example a female manager.
Expectations can distort one’s perception in what one sees and what one expects to
see. For example power hungry police officer to be strict regardless of his actual
traits.

The Target: Objects, events that are similar to each other tend to group together and
have a tendency of perceiving them as common group for example. Blacks, Whites
or Indians etc irrespective of their different characteristics. Physical and time
proximity also leads us to perceiving a situation in a different form than actual reality.
Increase in the sales volume may be attributed to newly posted sales manager. In
actuality the increase in sales may have been the outcome of hard work done in the
past by sales representatives and public contact. Soldiers in identical uniform and
their uprightness is perceived as being strict, ruthless and tough, on the contrary they
are sober, soft and very delicate at heart. It is therefore important to analyse the event,
situation, or an object in its correct perspective and be led by similarity, physical and
time proximity.

The Situation: Change in situation leads to incorrect perception about a person.

Time is one factor, which influences the perception. Time is related to work setting
and social setting. A person decked up for party may not be noticeable but the same
dress in office would be noticed distinctly, though the person has not changed.

You would have very frequently heard people say that their manager is different
during working hours and 1800 opposite while in social setting. Infact person is the
same but the perceiver perceives the manager as per business like setup while on
work, while the person is observed on a private or a personal platform when meeting
him in the club or at home. What is important to remember is the perception should
be done in a correct manner not to be led due to work setting or social setting and
that the situation is not allowed to perceive wrongly.

An object can be identified by its size, shade, shape, sound it makes and background.
It can be distinguished based on its movement. In darkness it may be identified by its
silhouette, for example caravan moving on skyline at the dawn.

Attribution Theory of Perception: In day-to-day life, we come across people with

whom we interact. Motives, intentions, belief and attitude of people have an impact
as to how they behave. It has been seen that our perception about the people is greatly
influenced by the assumption we make about a person and not by reality.

There are two factors, which has an impact on human behaviour. First is internally
caused behaviour – refers to internal factors on which individual has a full control,
secondly the externally caused behaviour- refers to the behaviour which has been
caused due to external factors and that the individual has no control over it.

Attribution theory suggest that when we evaluate human behaviour, it is either

internally caused or it is caused due to external factors as explained above. The
determination however depends on the following three factors.

(a) Distinctiveness: Let us for evaluation purposes take an example of X

worker coming late for duty. When we carry out interpretation there are
two factors, one whether arriving late is usual or unusual behaviour. If
it is usual, it is attributed to internal factor on which X has full control.
When the behaviour is unusual then it can be attributed to external
factors. In the former situation individual could be counselled
appropriately in the later situation, the external factors cannot be
corrected. If the external factors are high, then late coming should not be
attributed to the individual behaviour.
(b) Consensus: This factor refers to group behaviour. If the entire group
taking the same route came late on duty, the causation is attributed to
external factors. But by some chance if X only was late then the
causation would be internal.
(c) Consistency: If the behaviour of Mr. X is consistence, that is if he is
consistently coming late then attribution should be to internal factors.
In such cases there is a high internal causation. If X came late once in a
while the causation would be low and attributed to external factors.
 More consistence the behaviour, the more the observer is inclined to
attribute it to internal causes. It has been seen that we have the tendency
to under estimate the influence of external factors and over estimate the
influence of internal factors or personal factors while carrying out
perception. This phenomenon is called the fundamental attribution
error. Fall in sales of a commodity is generally attributed to inefficiency
of sales force rather than market trend, recession or innovative product
launched by the competitor.

There is also a self-serving bias error caused by the individuals who tend
to attribute their own success to internal causation like ability, hard work
and self-worth and the failure, to external factors like Luck. This
phenomenon is called a self-serving bias displayed by the individuals.
There are bias, which distorts attribution universally across culture.
Self-serving bias does not apply to all organizations, where cultural
identity has been established like Defense Services of India. Where the
leader takes the responsibility for the failure of group task and attribute
success to collective efforts. This is the main reason that soldiers have
great faith in their leader and his ability and that is how the soldiers are
led in war and they follow the leader blindly because they have a correct
perception of their leader.
Aspect of personality that influence perceptions: Costello, Zalkind
(1962) and Hamacheck (1971)2 indicate the following relationship between
personality factors and perception
(a) Secure person perceives others as warm individuals.
(b) Thoughtful individuals do not perceive situation in terms of Black and
White but understand that there can be different shades of gray. Hence
they do not make judgments based on single piece of evidence.
(c) Self-accepting people perceive others liking and accepting them. Those
who are not self-accepting tend to distrust others.
(d) Self-accepting person also accepts others easily which is not true of
those who are not self-accepting.
(e) People tend to perceive others more accurately when they are more like
the ones they perceive than if they are different from those who are
being perceived.

Common Errors While Judging Others

1. Selective Perception: People selectively interpret what they see based on

 their attitude, interest, background and experience. An individual might
have been appointed on a key position on the day of the visit of CEO
and the appointment may be incidental but we may perceive appointments
as a consequence of CEO’s visit. In an organization so many things keep
happening but different people will perceive one fact differently based on
individuals selectivity in perceiving which is generally based on his past
experience and attitude towards work. It is important that when we read
others, we make a mistake reading with speed and putting seal of what
has been selectively seen by a perceiver. For correct perception an
individual must be observed, studied, tried and later perceived without
an individual bias.

2. Halo Effect: Halo effect refers to judging an individual based on single

characteristics, such as intellectual ability, sociability and appearance.
Sales Manager’s visit to sales territory and consequent increase in sales
volume may be attributed to the visit of the sales manager to a particular
sales territory. Perceiver in this situation did not notice the cause of
increased sales to probably higher demand, change in market forces,
subordinate sales employees past efforts to woo customers to buy the
product and host of other factors that go with increase in the sales
volume. This type of perception is quite common in any organization,
which is called halo effect in perceiving an individual or situation. A
rater may rate a subordinate based on dominance of a single trait of the
subordinate. The halo effect has been very frequently noticed in
performance appraisal.

3. Projection: You assume a person based on your own traits and not what
he actually possesses. If you were hard working and dependable you would
expect others to be so. If a person projects the above characteristics in
his dealings he is rated high or perceived in a different way than what
he actually is. It is commonly found that subordinates do or exhibit the
same behaviour as desired by the boss. This phenomenon is called the
‘projection’, an error that is common in any organization.

4. Contrast Effect: We do not evaluate a person in isolation. Our reaction to

one person is relative to the other. During selection process, interviewer
selects a particular person for a particular job not because he fulfils all
requirements but he is generally selected in relation to the other
candidates. Individual selected may be academically, skill wise,
experience wise better than those not selected. So it is a comparative or
 contrast phenomenon of perception. We generally hear, people say that
Mr. X presentation was good thereby meaning it was better in relation to
other people who would have made presentations in a particular session.

5. Stereotyping: In order to simplify matters, we often tend to classify people

and events into already known categories. For example we generally
perceive man as executive and woman as secretary even if the situation
may be different. For police person, it is generally believed that they are
generally tough and law abiding which may not be true. In our mind we
have established certain categories with certain attributes. For example,
category of teenagers would generally be independent, indisciplined and
so on. In reality this may not be true. Similarly we attach positive attribute
to judges, professors and doctors and negative attributes to school
dropouts, addicts although they may not be really so.

INDIVIDUAL DECISION MAKING

Managers have to take decisions and communicate the same to subordinates for
implementation. Decisions can be of routine nature or may have strategic
consequence. It is the judgment of the individual to arrive at a particular solution.
The process that takes place in mind is fast and based on ability, nature, skill and
experience of the individual. Hilter took a decision to attack Europe in the West
while he had captured half of Russia. Opening war on two fronts led him to
defeat. Otherwise the map of the world would be different. Such are the
consequences of faulty decisions. Due to information technology revolution, a
manager has to his disposal pleanty of information on product, market trends,
customer choice, availability of various resources that go in to run an
organization. He has also to use statistical tools before arriving at a decision. This
at times cause an information overload for a manager to take decision. Decision
must be rational and based on the available facts and future expectations of the
user. Decision is studying various alternatives and selecting the best alternative
to the problem. When a decision is taken, a mental appreciation is carried out. It
leads to following three questions:
Q. 1. What is my aim/objective/goal?
Q. 2. What does it involve?
Q. 3. How far can I plan now?
Once this exercise is carried out, an individual is generally in a position to
take an appropriate decision. Decision must be taken in time and implemented.
Studies have been conducted by Taylor et al3 to see if there is a co-relation
 between certain characteristics of a decision maker such as age, level of
intelligence, experience, aptitude for creativity and level of motivation and
such variables as decision accuracy, confidence in the decisions and time spent
in studying the problem and reaching the decision.
These studies have shown that biggest unknown and the most mysterious
factor is still the decision maker himself. How and why an individual acts is
still a mystery.

Factors Affecting Decisions

1. Information: Adequate information must be available to the decision

maker. Due to computers lot of information may now be available but it is
of little consequence. What is important is the amount, quality and the
format in which the information is made available to the decision maker.
Inadequate information is as dangerous as too much of information.
2. Bias: Every individuals’ decision is highly affected by value attitudes
and beliefs. Individual has preconceived ideas about an issue and
accepts what he wants to, and throws away information which is not
acceptable by him. Prejudice and bias that may lead to faulty decisions.
It is therefore necessary to have an open mind and take decision without
any prejudice. Organizational culture plays a decisive role in decision
making. If an organization is known for its promptness, honest dealings
etc, a manager in such organization would definitely take just and
appropriate decisions.
3. Personal habits: Some people are rigid and stick to their own decision
even if it is wrong. Others blame their subordinates for failure and take
credit for successful job. There are individuals who have an external locus
of control and blame outside agencies/ situations for their failure for
decisions to be effective.
4. Time constraints: A problem is identified and a solution is sought within
a specified time. As the complexity of impact of external variables, the
enhanced time may be required. In the fast moving era it is necessary to
carry out time and space appreciation of the problem involved. A rigid
time schedule may be necessary that can be followed. There are mangers
who can take effective decisions under the pressure of time. However most
people under time pressure rely on “Heuristics” approach which means
limiting the search for facts and data using the limited information for
decision making. Under the above circumstances the quality of decisions
are “Workable” rather than “Optimal”.
5. Risk Taking: Risk is related to various factors. A manager’s risk
 taking attitude is dependant on personal characteristics, organizational
culture where risk is rewarded and not penalized for failed decisions,
intelligence level and the expectations of the decision maker. High
intelligent managers are found to be generally conservative and do not
take bold step. People with high expectations are generally highly
optimistic and take decisions even with minimum required level of
information. Social and cultural influences also play a dominant role on
the quality of decisions.

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.

How Learning Occurs?

Learning can be understood clearly with the help of some theories that will explain our
behavior. Some of the remarkable theories are −
 Classical Conditioning Theory
 Operant Conditioning Theory
 Social Learning Theory
 Cognitive Learning Theory

Classical Conditioning Theory

The classical conditioning occurs when a conditioned stimulus is coupled with an

unconditioned stimulus. Usually, the conditioned stimulus (CS) is an impartial stimulus
like the sound of a tuning fork, the unconditioned stimulus (US) is biologically effective
like the taste of food and the unconditioned response (UR) to the unconditioned
stimulus is an unlearned reflex response like salivation or sweating.
After this coupling process is repeated (for example, some learning may already occur
after a single coupling), an individual shows a conditioned response (CR) to the
conditioned stimulus, when the conditioned stimulus is presented alone. The
conditioned response is mostly similar to the unconditioned response, but unlike the
unconditioned response, it must be acquired through experience and is nearly
impermanent.
Operant Conditioning Theory

Operant conditioning theory is also known as instrumental conditioning. This theory is

a learning process in which behavior is sensitive to, or controlled by its outcomes.
Let’s take an example of a child. A child may learn to open a box to get the candy
inside, or learn to avoid touching a hot stove. In comparison, the classical conditioning
develops a relationship between a stimulus and a behavior. The example can be further
elaborated as the child may learn to salivate at the sight of candy, or to tremble at the
sight of an angry parent.
In the 20th century, the study of animal learning was commanded by the analysis of
these two sorts of learning, and they are still at the core of behavior analysis.
Social Learning Theory

The key assumptions of social learning theory are as follows −

 Learning is not exactly behavioral, instead it is a cognitive process that takes
place in a social context.
 Learning can occur by observing a behavior and by observing the outcomes of
the behavior (known as vicarious reinforcement).
 Learning includes observation, extraction of information from those
observations, and making decisions regarding the performance of the behavior
(known as observational learning or modeling). Thus, learning can occur beyond
an observable change in behavior.
 Reinforcement plays an important role in learning but is not completely
responsible for learning.
 The learner is not a passive receiver of information. Understanding, environment,
and behavior all mutually influence each other.
Cognitive Learning Theory

Cognition defines a person’s ideas, thoughts, knowledge, interpretation, understanding

about himself and environment.
This theory considers learning as the outcome of deliberate thinking on a problem or
situation based upon known facts and responding in an objective and more oriented
manner. It perceives that a person learns the meaning of various objects and events and
also learns the response depending upon the meaning assigned to the stimuli.
This theory debates that the learner forms a cognitive structure in memory which stores
organized information about the various events that occurs.
Learning & Organizational Behavior
An individual’s behavior in an organization is directly or indirectly affected by learning.
Example − Employee skill, manager’s attitude are all learned.
Behavior can be improved by following the listed tips −
 Reducing absenteeism by rewarding employees for their fair attendance.
 Improving employee discipline by dealing with employee’s undesirable
behavior, drinking at workplace, stealing, coming late, etc. by taking appropriate
actions like oral reprimands, written warnings and suspension.
 Developing training programs more often so as to grab the trainees’ attention,
provide required motivational properties etc.
Motivation
Motivation can be described as the internal force that impacts the direction, intensity,
and endurance of a person’s voluntary choice of behavior. It consists of −
 Direction − focused by goals.
 Intensity − bulk of effort allocated.
 Persistence − amount of time taken for the effort to be exerted.
Example − A team leader encourages team members to work efficiently.

Features of Motivation
Motivation is an internal feeling, that is, it defines the psychological state of a person.
It is a continuous process and we should make sure that it is not disturbed. A person
should be encouraged completely.
Motivation consists of three interacting and dependent elements −
 Needs − The requirements or deficiency which is created whenever there is
physiological imbalance.
 Drives − The various camps or events organized to motivate the employees and
give them new opportunities.
 Incentives − Employees need to be rewarded for their nice work in order to keep
them encouraged.

Importance of Motivation
We need to motivate employees because of the following reasons −
 Motivated employee are more quality oriented.
 Highly motivated employees are more productive as compared to other
employees.
 It helps in achieving three behavior dimension of human resource namely
o Candidates must be attracted not only to join but also remain in the firm.
o Employees must perform task in a dependable manner.
o Employees should be creative, spontaneous and innovative at work.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

This theory was produced in order to answer the question “What motivates an
individual”. Every second need comes to force when the first need is satisfied
completely. Maslow explained the hierarchy of needs by grouping them into two:
deficiency needs and growth needs.

Physiological Needs
Every individual needs to take care of the basic requirements required to sustain. These
requirements include food to eat, clothing to wear and shelter to live in. These
necessities are relatively independent of each other but are finite.
Safety Needs
Everybody wants to stay in a protected environment with minimal danger so that they
can have a peaceful life. Safety needs basically includes protection from physiological
danger like accident and having economic security like bank accounts, health insurance
In an enterprise, it includes job security, salary increment, etc. The managerial practice
to satisfy this involves offering pension scheme, provident fund, gratuity etc.
Social Needs
We have all heard that man is a social animal, we want to be there with those people
where we are loved and we are accepted as we are; nobody wants to be judged. This is
a common requirement every human desires.
This theory helps managers to think about encouraging their employees by identifying
employee needs. In short, it presents motivation as constantly changing force,
expressing itself to the constant need for fulfilment of new and higher levels of needs.
Esteem
Esteem means the typical human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People
often involve in a profession or hobby to gain recognition, earn fame and respect.
According to Maslow, the needs of humans have strict guidelines - the hierarchies rather
than being sharply separated, are interrelated. This means that esteem and the
consequent levels are not strictly separated but are closely related.
Self-Actualization
Self-actualization means realizing one’s full potential. Maslow describes this as a desire
to complete everything that one can, to become the most that one can be.

THEORY X AND THEORY Y

Douglas McGregor, the eminent social psychologist, divides management style into two
contrasting theories −

 Theory X
 Theory Y

Theory X
This theory believes that employees are naturally unmotivated and dislike working, and this
encourages an authoritarian style of management. According to this theory, management must
firmly intervene to get things done. This style of management concludes that workers −
  Disfavor working.
 Abstain responsibility and the need to be directed.
 Need to be controlled, forced, and warned to deliver what's needed.
 Demand to be supervised at each and every step, with controls put in place.
 Require to be attracted to produce results, else they have no ambition or incentive to work.
McGregor observed that X-type workers are in fact mostly in minority, and yet in mass
organizations, such as large scale production environment, X Theory management may be needed
and can be unavoidable.

Theory Y
This theory explains a participative style of management, that is, distributive in nature. It concludes
that employees are happy to work, are self-motivated and creative, and enjoy working with greater
responsibility. It estimates that workers −
 Take responsibility willingly and are encouraged to fulfill the goals they are given.
 Explore and accept responsibility and do not need much guidance.
 Assume work as a natural part of life and solve work issues imaginatively.
In Y-type organizations, people at lower levels are engaged in decision making and have more
responsibility.

Comparing Theory X & Theory Y

Let us now compare both the theories −
Motivation
Theory X considers that people dislike work, they want to avoid it and do not take responsibilities
willingly.
While, Theory Y considers that people are self-motivated, and sportingly take responsibilities.
Management Style and Control
In Theory X-type organization, management is authoritarian, and centralized control is maintained.
While in Theory Y-type organization, the management style is participative, employees are
involved decision making, but the power retains to implement decisions.
Work Organization
Theory X employees are specialized and the same work cycle continues.
In Theory Y, the work tends to be coordinated around wider areas of skill or knowledge.
Employees are also motivated to develop expertise, and make suggestions and improvements.
Rewards and Appraisals
Theory X-type organizations work on a ‘carrot and stick’ basis, and performance assessment is
part of the overall mechanism of control and compensation.
Coming to Theory Y-type organizations, appraisal is also regular and crucial, but is usually a
separate mechanism from organizational controls. Theory Y-type organizations provide
employees frequent opportunities for promotion.

Application
Admitting the fact that Theory X management style is widely accepted as inferior to
others, it has its place in large scale production procedure and unskilled production-line
work.
Many of the principles of Theory Y are widely accepted by different types of
organization that value and motivate active participation.
Theory Y-style management is appropriate for knowledge work and licensed services.
Licensed service organizations naturally develop Theory Y-type practices by the nature
of their work, even high structure knowledge framework, like call center operations,
benefit from its principles to motivate knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.
Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation
In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or
the motivator-hygiene theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that
result in satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction.
According to Herzberg, the opposite of “Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the
opposite of “Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction”.

FIGURE: Herzberg’s view of satisfaction and dissatisfaction

Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-

a. Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for
existence of motivation at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction
for long-term. But if these factors are absent / if these factors are non-existant
 at workplace, then they lead to dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors
are those factors which when adequate/reasonable in a job, pacify the
employees and do not make them dissatisfied. These factors are extrinsic to
work. Hygiene factors are also called as dissatisfiers or maintenance
factors as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These factors describe the
job environment/scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the physiological
needs which the individuals wanted and expected to be fulfilled. Hygiene
factors include:
 Pay - The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It
must be equal and competitive to those in the same industry in the same
domain.
 Company Policies and administrative policies - The company policies
should not be too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include
flexible working hours, dress code, breaks, vacation, etc.
 Fringe benefits - The employees should be offered health care plans
(mediclaim), benefits for the family members, employee help
programmes, etc.
 Physical Working conditions - The working conditions should be safe,
clean and hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and well-
maintained.
 Status - The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar
and retained.
 Interpersonal relations - The relationship of the employees with his
peers, superiors and subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable.
There should be no conflict or humiliation element present.
 Job Security - The organization must provide job security to the
employees.
b. Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be
regarded as motivators. The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction.
These factors are inherent to work. These factors motivate the employees for a
superior performance. These factors are called satisfiers. These are factors
involved in performing the job. Employees find these factors intrinsically
rewarding. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that were
perceived as an additional benefit. Motivational factors include:
 Recognition - The employees should be praised and recognized for their
accomplishments by the managers.
 Sense of achievement - The employees must have a sense of
achievement. This depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort
in the job.
  Growth and promotional opportunities - There must be growth and
advancement opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees
to perform well.
 Responsibility - The employees must hold themselves responsible for the
work. The managers should give them ownership of the work. They
should minimize control but retain accountability.
 Meaningfulness of the work - The work itself should be meaningful,
interesting and challenging for the employee to perform and to get
motivated.

Limitations of Two-Factor Theory

The two factor theory is not free from limitations:

1. The two-factor theory overlooks situational variables.

2. Herzberg assumed a correlation between satisfaction and productivity. But the
research conducted by Herzberg stressed upon satisfaction and ignored
productivity.
3. The theory’s reliability is uncertain. Analysis has to be made by the raters. The
raters may spoil the findings by analyzing same response in different manner.
4. No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used. An employee may find his
job acceptable despite the fact that he may hate/object part of his job.
5. The two factor theory is not free from bias as it is based on the natural reaction
of employees when they are enquired the sources of satisfaction and
dissatisfaction at work. They will blame dissatisfaction on the external factors
such as salary structure, company policies and peer relationship. Also, the
employees will give credit to themselves for the satisfaction factor at work.
6. The theory ignores blue-collar workers.

Despite these limitations, Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory is acceptable broadly.

Implications of Two-Factor Theory

The Two-Factor theory implies that the managers must stress upon guaranteeing the
adequacy of the hygiene factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction. Also, the managers
must make sure that the work is stimulating and rewarding so that the employees are
motivated to work and perform harder and better. This theory emphasize upon job-
enrichment so as to motivate the employees. The job must utilize the employee’s
skills and competencies to the maximum. Focusing on the motivational factors can
improve work-quality.
Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
The expectancy theory was proposed by Victor Vroom of Yale School of Management
in 1964. Vroom stresses and focuses on outcomes, and not on needs unlike Maslow and
Herzberg. The theory states that the intensity of a tendency to perform in a particular
manner is dependent on the intensity of an expectation that the performance will be
followed by a definite outcome and on the appeal of the outcome to the individual.
The Expectancy theory states that employee’s motivation is an outcome of how much
an individual wants a reward (Valence), the assessment that the likelihood that the effort
will lead to expected performance (Expectancy) and the belief that the performance will
lead to reward (Instrumentality).
In short, Valence is the significance associated by an individual about the expected
outcome. It is an expected and not the actual satisfaction that an employee expects to
receive after achieving the goals.
Expectancy is the faith that better efforts will result in better performance. Expectancy
is influenced by factors such as possession of appropriate skills for performing the job,
availability of right resources, availability of crucial information and getting the
required support for completing the job.
Instrumentality is the faith that if you perform well, then a valid outcome will be there.
Instrumentality is affected by factors such as believe in the people who decide who
receives what outcome, the simplicity of the process deciding who gets what outcome,
and clarity of relationship between performance and outcomes. Thus, the expectancy
theory concentrates on the following three relationships:

 Effort-performance relationship: What is the likelihood that the individual’s

effort be recognized in his performance appraisal?
 Performance-reward relationship: It talks about the extent to which the employee
believes that getting a good performance appraisal leads to organizational
rewards.
 Rewards-personal goals relationship: It is all about the attractiveness or appeal
of the potential reward to the individual.

Vroom was of view that employees consciously decide whether to perform or not at the
job. This decision solely depended on the employee’s motivation level which in turn
depends on three factors of expectancy, valence and instrumentality.
Advantages of the Expectancy Theory

 It is based on self-interest individual who want to achieve maximum satisfaction

and who wants to minimize dissatisfaction.
 This theory stresses upon the expectations and perception; what is real and actual
is immaterial.
 It emphasizes on rewards or pay-offs.
 It focuses on psychological extravagance where final objective of individual is
to attain maximum pleasure and least pain.

Limitations of the Expectancy Theory

 The expectancy theory seems to be idealistic because quite a few individuals

perceive high degree correlation between performance and rewards.
 The application of this theory is limited as reward is not directly correlated with
performance in many organizations. It is related to other parameters also such as
position, effort, responsibility, education, etc.

Implications of the Expectancy Theory

 The managers can correlate the preferred outcomes to the aimed performance
levels.
 The managers must ensure that the employees can achieve the aimed
performance levels.
 The deserving employees must be rewarded for their exceptional
performance.
 The reward system must be fair and just in an organization.
 Organizations must design interesting, dynamic and challenging jobs.
 The employee’s motivation level should be continually assessed through
various techniques such as questionnaire, personal interviews, etc.