Perception, Decision Making and Diversity in

Organizations
 What is Perception and Why it is Important?

Perception is a process by which we combine, integrate and

interpret the sensory impression about the world around us to give
meaning to it.

• Perception is the starting point of human behavior.

• The way we perceive others affects how we treat them.

• We don’t see reality. We interpret it.

• Our behaviors and decision making are influenced by our perceptions.

Our behavior is based on our perceptions about reality rather than the reality itself.
Significance of Perception

Individual Consequences

Inter‐personal
Consequences
Individual Individual
Perception Behavior

Group Consequences

Organization level
Consequences
perception of dissimilarity between the values of CEOs

Taj employees’ perception about the fairness of STARs: perceived procedural fairness about the policy motivates them to engage with customers
 Nature of Perception
• A lens providing us world view
» A set of basic assumptions about what the world is really like?
» Once created, it becomes very powerful.

• Socially co-created
» Our reality is co-created by the perception of behaviors, and inter-
relation of the behaviors by us and by the people around us.

• Culturally influenced
» A person chooses those patterns of interpretation that are culturally
acceptable and considered desirable.

• Self-fulfilling
» We sense the expectation of others and behave accordingly.
The Pygmalion effect
 Perception Process

Sensemaking

Behavior,
Consequences,
Interpretation
Registration Memory and
repetitive
behavior
patterns and
their outcomes
Environmental
Stimuli
Selectivity
and
Capacity filtering Distortion Organization

Realm of psycho‐socio cultural influences

Factors that Influence Social Perception
Factors related to the perceiver
• Familiarity with the target Factors related to the target
• Attitude • Physical appearance
• Mood • Verbal communication
• Self‐concept • Nonverbal communication
• Cognitive structure • Intentions (are inferred by perceiver)

Barriers
Selective perception,
Social Perception
Stereotyping, First
impression error, Projection,
self‐fulfilling prophecies

Characteristics of the situation

• Context of the interaction
• Strength of situational cues
 Impression Management (IM)

It is the process by which people control the impressions others

form about them.

Why impression management and self-presentation?

• To maximize rewards and minimize punishments
• To gain power over others
• To create a public image in accord with the ideal image
• To maintain self-esteem
The Two Components of Impression Management

Impression Motivation
Impression Construction

• Goal relevance of the

• Self‐concept
impressions
• Desired and undesired
• Value of the desired goals
identity
• Discrepancy between the
• Role constraints
desired images and the
• Target’s values
current image
IM Techniques or Verbal Self‐Presentation Behaviors

Favors Self‐Descriptions

Verbal Self‐ Association

Flattery
Presentation

Acclaiming Opinion
Conformity
 Attribution: Making Judgement About Others

• According to attribution theory we observe behavior, and then

attribute cause to it. We do so to explain why people behave as
they do.

• We attempt to determine whether an individual’s behavior is

internally (dispositional) caused or externally (situational)
caused.

• The process of attribution is based on the perception of reality

and so they vary among individuals.
 Dispositional and Situational Attribution

• Dispositional attribution is the explanation that a person’s behavior

is because of internal causes such as traits, abilities, or feelings.

• Situational attribution is the explanation that a person’s behavior is

because of external causes that are not in control of the person.
 Attribution Theory : Kelley’s Theory of Causal Attribution

• How do we judge whether someone’s behavior is internally

caused or externally caused?

• According to Kelly’s conceptualization, we base our judgements

about internal or external causality on our observations with
respect to three types of information:
- Consensus
- Consistency
- Distinctiveness
 Distortion of Attribution

Biases or errors that distort attribution are as follows:

• Fundamental Attribution Error
 The tendency to underestimate the importance of external
factors, or overestimate the importance of internal factors.

• Self-serving Bias
 When people accept positive feedback and reject negative
feedback.
 When people attribute their own successes to internal
factors, and put the blame for failures on external factors.
How to promote accurate perceptions
and attributions to effectively manage
diverse workforce?

• Securing the commitment of top management to diversity

• Diversity training
• Mentoring
• Team building activities
• Allotting buddies
Perceptual Biases: Systematic Errors in Perceiving Others

• Halo Effects

• Horns Effects
Perceptual Biases: Systematic Errors in Perceiving Others (cont’d)

• The Similar-to-Me Effect

• Stereotyping

• Selective Perception

• First-Impression Error

• Contrast Effects

• Self-fulfilling Prophecies
(The Pygmalion Effect and Golem Effect)
 How to Overcome Biases in Perception?

• Do not overlook the external causes of others’ behavior

• Rash judgments should be avoided.

• Use objective factors to evaluate people

Theories of Learning

1. Classical Conditioning

2. Operant Conditioning

3. Social Learning
 How
to shape
behavior
of an
employee?
 Continuous reinforcement
OR
Intermittent reinforcement,

which one can be more effective?

Intermittent reinforcement:

Ratio
or
Interval

Fixed or Variable??
 Decision Making in Organizations

• Rational Decision Making Model

» Define the problem ( OR understand the situation)
» Identify the decision criteria
» Allocate weights to the criteria
» Develop and/or evaluate the alternatives
» Select the best alternative

• Bounded Rationality

• Intuitive Decision Making

 Biases and Errors in Decision Making

• Anchoring Bias
• Escalation of Commitment

• Confirmation Bias
• Risk Aversion

• Over confidence Bias

• Hindsight Bias
• Availability Bias
 Factors Affecting Decision Making

Individual Level Factors: Organizational Level Factors:

• Personality • Performance Evaluation

Systems
• Gender
• Rewards Systems
• Mental Ability
• Formal Regulations

• Imposed Time
Constraints
Techniques for Enhancing Group Decisions

 The Delphi Technique

 The Nominal Group

Technique
The Nominal
Group Technique A small group gathers and receives instructions;
problem is identified

Participants privately write down ideas about

solution

Each participant’s ideas are presented, one at a time, and are

written on the chart/board until all ideas are expressed

Each idea is discussed, clarified, and evaluated by

group members

Participants privately rank the ideas in order of their

preference

The highest ranking idea is taken as the group’s

decision
What should your
CR
be doing
for you
to facilitate
smooth learning
during your
first term at
IIML?
Any Queries?