Chapter Two: Foundation of individual Behavior and Learning in

organization
1. Perception: is the process by which people select, organize,
interpret, retrieve, and respond to information from the world
around them that they collected through their five senses:
sense of sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
• Simply defined as a process by which individuals organize and
interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to
their environment.
• The perceptions or responses of any two people are also not
necessarily identical, even when they are describing the same
event; since people’s behavior is not based on what reality
itself is ; rather what they believe it to be or(their perception)
• Therefore through perception people process information,
inputs into responses, involving feelings and action. Perception
is a way of forming impressions about oneself, other people,
and daily life experiences.
 Cont’d
• The quality or accuracy of a person’s perceptions,
therefore, has a major impact on his or her responses
to a given situation. Perceptual responses are also
likely to vary between managers/supervisors and
employees.
• For example: when a supervisor tries to advise or
suggest employees a means to achieve his
objective/target, some employee may feel that the
supervisor is controlling or interfering; hence they may
keep to avoid the supervisor, while others may take
the same supervisor as “father figure” for his helpful
attitude and keep on seeking his assistance.
• This difference in behavior, about same supervisor,
resulted from people’s perception.
 Factors influencing the perception process
• The factors that contribute to perception differences and the
perceptual process among people at work are:
• The Perceiver: refers to person’s personal characteristics that
affects his perception including his past experiences, needs or
motives, personality, values and attitudes and expectations that
may all influence the perceptual process.
• The situation/Setting: refers to the context in which objects or
events are seen by the individuals. These may include time, heat,
light, physical, social, and organizational etc..that can influence the
perceptual process.
• The Target/Perceived: Characteristics of the target/perceived
person, object, or event, such as size, motion, attractiveness
,gregariousness/sociability and repetition or novelty, are also
important in the perceptual process.
 shortcuts in judging others/Common Perception errors
Selective perception:
• Any characteristic that makes an event, person, or object
stand out/single out will increase the probability that it will
be perceived. An individual cannot internalize and assimilate
everything that is seen. Only certain stimuli can be taken in
selectively. Selectivity works as shortcut in judging other
people by allowing us to “speed-read” others. The tendency
to see what we want to see can make us draw unwarranted
conclusions from an ambiguous situation.
• For example, most marketing executives view the key
problem area of a business as sales, while production people
tend to see the problem as one of production and
organization.
• These differing viewpoints affect how the executives would
approach the problem; they might also create difficulties if
these people tried to work together to improve things.
Halo effect: occurs when one draws a general impression about person
or situation based on a single characteristic.
• Halo effects are common in our everyday lives. When meeting a new
person, for example, a pleasant smile can lead to a positive first
impression of an overall “warm” and “honest” person.
• Halo effects are particularly important in the performance appraisal
process because they can influence a manager’s evaluations of
subordinates’ work performance.
• For example, people with good attendance records tend to be viewed as
intelligent and responsible.
Stereotyping : judging someone on the basis of our perception of the
group to which he or she belongs.(For example: gender, age , race,
ethnicity, and even weight)
• Stereotypes can cause inaccuracies of perception by obscuring
individual differences.
• In organizations it may prevent managers from getting to know people
as individuals and from accurately assessing their needs, preferences,
and abilities.
Projection: is the assignment of one’s personal attributes to
other individuals.
• Tendency for people to see their own traits/qualities in others.
• when managers engage in projection , they tend to see
people as more homogeneous than they really are; they
assume that the needs of their subordinates and their own
coincide.
• Contrast effects: Individuals do not evaluate a person in
isolation. Their reaction to one person is influenced by other
persons they have encountered recently. Perception distortion
can occur when, say, a person gives a talk following a strong
speaker or is interviewed for a job following a series of average
applicants.
• So, contrast effect occurs when an individual’s characteristics
are contrasted with those of others recently encountered who
rank higher or lower on the same characteristics.
 Prejudice: is an unfounded dislike of a person or group based
on their belonging to a particular stereotyped group. For
instance, an individual may dislike people of a particular
religion, or state that she does not want to work with
someone of a particular ethnicity.
• this mentality can lead to negative consequences in the
workplace, say, discrimination.
Self-fulfilling prophecy/ estimation: A tendency for
someone’s expectations about another to cause that
person behave in a manner consistent with those
expectations.
Through self-fulfilling prophecy, you also may create in the
work situation that which you expect to find.
 2. Attitudes G2 G1(Reg.)
Attitudes: Are evaluative statements that are either
favorable(Like or positive) or unfavorable(dislike or
negative) concerning objects, people or events.
• Attitude is a mindset or a tendency to act in a
particular way due to both an individual’s
experience and temperament ( nature).
Characteristics of Attitude:
1)Attitude are learned predisposition, 2)Attitudes
have consistency (Attitudes are relatively consistent
with the behavior they reflect; however, attitudes are
not necessarily permanent.) 3)Attitudes do change
4) Attitudes occur within a situation 5) attitudes are
object specific
 Attitudes Formation & sources
• Experience: Attitudes are formed directly as a result of
experience. They may emerge due to direct personal
experience, or they may result from observation.
• Social Factors: Social roles and social norms can have a
strong influence on attitudes. Social roles relate to how
people are expected to behave in a particular role or
context. Social norms involve society's rules for what
behaviors are considered appropriate.
• Learning: Attitudes can be learned in a variety of ways.
Consider how advertisers use classical conditioning to
influence your attitude toward a particular product. In a
television commercial, you see young, beautiful people
having fun and enjoying a sport drink. This attractive and
appealing imagery causes you to develop a positive
association with this particular beverage.
 Cont’d
Operant conditioning can also be used to influence how attitudes
develop. Imagine a young man who has just started smoking.
Whenever he lights up a cigarette, people complain and ask him
to leave their area. This negative feedback from those around him
eventually causes him to develop an unfavorable opinion of
smoking and he decides to give up the habit.
Finally, people also learn attitudes by observing the people
around them. When someone you admire greatly promotes a
particular attitude, you are more likely to develop the same
beliefs. For example, children spend a great deal of time observing
the attitudes of their parents and usually begin to demonstrate
similar outlooks.
• There fore, Our attitudes are developed/sourced from our
parents, teachers, friends, role models popular individuals, etc..
• Attitudes keep changing with experience.
 Types of attitudes in OB
• Most OB research concerns with three attitudes:
❖ Job satisfaction: refers to an individual’s general attitude toward his or job. A
high level of job satisfaction equals positive attitudes toward and vice-versa.
➢ Though what satisfies one worker may vary from what satisfies the other,
organizations aspiring to create a job satisfaction need to incorporate the
following in their work environment:
• flexible work arrangements
• Task Varity and significance
• Job security
• A supportive work environment
• Competitive salary
• Career opportunities
❖ Job-involvement: it is the measure of the degree to which a person identifies
psychologically with his/her job and considers his/her perceived performance
level important to self-worth.
❖ Organizational commitment: it is a state in which an employee identifies with a
particular organization and its goals, and wishes to maintain membership in the
organization. Researches show a negative relationship between organizational
commitment and both absenteeism and turnover.
 3.Personality
• Definition: What is personality?
• Personality is a dynamic organization, inside the person, of
psychophysical systems that create the person’s characteristic
patterns of behavior, thoughts and feelings.( G.W. Allport, 1961).
• More or less stable, internal factors . . . make one person’s
behavior consistent from one time to another, and different from
the behavior other people would manifest in comparable
situations. (Child, 1968)
• The term personality represents the overall profile or combination
of characteristics that capture the unique nature of a person as
that person reacts and interacts with others.
• Personality combines a set of physical and mental characteristics
that reflect how a person looks, thinks, acts, and feels.
• An understanding of personality contributes to an understanding
of organizational behavior in that we expect a predictable
interplay between an individual’s personality and his or her
tendency to behave in certain ways.
 Personality Determinants
• Brain storming/discussion point
• You may have heard someone say something
like, “She acts like her mother.”
• Similarly, someone may argue that “This
boy/girl is the way he/she is because of the
way he/she was raised. “
• what do these statements Imply? Discuss in
group and report.
 Personality Determinants
• Heredity: it consists of those factors that are determined at
conception, traits like physique (shape, form, body, structure…),
eye color, height, temperament, energy level, intelligence,
reflexes, etc.
• Environment: it compromises of cultural, social, family and
situational factors.
✓ Culture: it establishes norms, attitudes and values that are
passed on from generation to generation and creates
consistency over time. Every culture trains its members to
behave in some way acceptable to the group.
✓ Family: immediate family also determine/influence the
personality of a person, particularly during early stages of life.
✓ Situation: some of the events and experiences which an
individual goes through in his life can serve as determinants of
his personality. A trauma/disturbance that a person passed
through in the childhood can sometimes change the structure of
his/her own personality.
 MAJOR PERSONALITY ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING OB
• Core self-evaluation: refers to the degree to which people like or
dislike themselves and whether they see themselves as capable
and effective.
• Machiavellianism: refers to the degree to which individuals are
pragmatic/Practical, rational, logical…/, emotionally distant, and
believe that the ends justify the means. Individuals who are high in
Machiavellianism tend to manipulate more, win more, and are
persuaded less than low Machs. This trait is desirable in jobs that
require bargaining skills or that offer substantial rewards for
winning.
• Authoritarianism: deals with the rigidity of a person’s beliefs. A
high in authoritarianism tends to adhere rigidly to
conventional/conservative values and to obey recognized
authority. This person is concerned with toughness and power and
opposes the use of subjective feelings.
•
Cont’d
Self-monitoring : It reflects a person’s ability to adjust his or her behavior
to external, situational (environmental) factors.
High self-monitoring individuals are sensitive to external cues and tend to
behave differently in different situations.
High self-monitors can present a very different appearance from their true
self. They can change their behavior, away from their true feelings,
depending on their audience , situation etc... These personality tend to
receive more promotions and better performance ratings.
In contrast, low self-monitors, aren’t able to disguise/mask their behaviors,
they show their true feelings regardless of the circumstances. There is high
behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.
• Risk taking: refers to an individual’s willingness to take chances/risks. High
risk takers make more rapid decisions and use less information in making
their choices than did the low risk-taking managers. The importance of risk
taking as a personality characteristic varies with occupation, with high risk
taking being more valuable in some jobs compared to others.
• Narcissism: describes a person who has a sense of self-importance,
requires excessive admiration, has a sense of entitlement, and is
arrogant. A study found that, while narcissists thought that they
were better leaders than their colleagues, their supervisors actually
rated them as worse leaders
 Cont’d
• Type A and Type B personality: Type A personality are characterized
by impatience, desire for achievement, and perfectionism, tend to work
fast and to be abrupt, uncomfortable, irritable, and aggressive. Type A
managers are detail oriented and with high performance standard
which leads resistance to change, overzealous/enthusiastic control of
subordinates, and various kinds of interpersonal difficulties, which may
even include threats and physical violence. Type B personality, in
contrast, are characterized as more easy going and less competitive in
relation to daily events. Type B managers tend to be much more laid
back and patient in their dealings with co-workers and subordinates.
• Locus of Control The extent to which a person feels able to control his
or her own life is concerned with a person’s internal–external
orientation. People have personal conceptions about whether events
are controlled primarily by themselves, which indicates an internal
orientation, or by outside forces, such as their social and physical
environment, which indicates an external orientation. Internals, or
persons with an internal locus of control, believe that they control their
own fate or destiny. In contrast to, externals.
 Matching Personality with Job
• John Holland’s research examines personality and job
fit. He defines six personality types and proposes that
satisfaction and the tendency to leave a job depend
on the degree to which individuals successfully match
their personalities to an occupational environment.
He also stated that matching people to the
organizational culture(person-organization fit) at the
time of hiring could result in higher employee
satisfaction and reduced turnover.
• The six personality types and work environments
within which all jobs can be classified are: Realistic ,
Investigative, Artistic ,Social, Enterprising and
Conventional.
 Holland's Six Personality and job-fit
• Realistic: such people like to work with animals, plants, tools, equipment, machines,
mechanical or electrical things; Generally avoids social activities like teaching,
healing, and informing others. Values practical things that can be seen, touched , and
used; and See self as practical, mechanical, and realistic.
• Investigative: Like and are good in solving mathematics or science problems; generally
avoids leading, selling, or persuading people; they Value science; and See self as
precise, scientific, and intellectual.
• Artistic: Like, value and have good abilities in creative activities like art, drama,
crafts, dance, music, or creative writing; generally avoid highly ordered or repetitive
activities; See self as expressive, original, and independent.
• Social: Like, value and good in doing things like helping people and solving social
problems such as teaching, , counseling, nursing, or giving first aid, providing
information; generally avoids using machines, tools, or animals to achieve a goal; See
self as helpful, friendly, and trustworthy.
• Enterprising: Like, value and good in leading, persuading people, selling things and
ideas, succeeding in politics; generally avoid activities that require careful observation
and scientific, analytical thinking; See self as energetic, ambitious, and sociable.
• Conventional: Like, value and good in working with written records and numbers in a
systematic and orderly way; generally avoids ambiguous, unstructured activities; See
self as orderly, and good at following a set plan. (bankers, accountants and secretary)
 Chapter Three: Foundation of Group Behavior
• Group: Two or more individuals interacting and
interdependent, who have come together to achieve
particular objectives.
• Groups can be classified as formal or informal:
❖ Formal Group: are defined by the organization’s structure
with designated work assignments establishing tasks.
Further sub classification of formal group include:
• Command Group: A group composed of the individuals
who report directly to a given manager
• Task Group: Those working together to complete a job or
task in an organization but not limited by hierarchical
boundaries
❖ Informal Group: Alliances that are neither formally
structured nor officially approved. Created in response to
the need for social contact , personal relationships or
special interests. Deeply affect behavior and performance
 Cont’d
• Interest Group: Members work together to
attain a specific objective with which each is
concerned
• Friendship Group: Those brought together
because they share one or more common
characteristics
 Why people form/join a team/group?
• Some reasons are looking for Security, Status, Self-
esteem, Affiliation, Power, Goal Achievement etc…
More over, Why TEAM work? Together Everyone
Achieves More!
 Stages in Team/Group development
❖Forming: nominating, familiarizing, and helping
them feel comfortable with their fellow members
❖Storming: characterized by “fight or flight”,
tension, conflict , disagreements etc.
❖Norming: ground rules and norms development
(trust, commitment , communication, idea
sharing increases)
❖Performing: the task starts
❖Adjourning ( if temporary)
Obstacles to Team/Group Productivity
• Conformity
• Diffusion of responsibility (“not my job”)
• Group thinking
• Obedience/respect to authority vs.
empowered creativity
• Lack of management support or resources
• Norms
Effective Team: to increasing productivity
• Consist of competent, committed members
• Work collaboratively in an atmosphere of respect and trust
• Understand how to measure achievement of their goal
• Tends to have relaxed, comfortable and more of informal
atmosphere
• The task is well understood, goal oriented and accepted
• The team members listen to each other to increase participation.
• Members tend to express both their feelings and ideas freely.
• Conflicts and disagreements center on the ideas and methods, not
around personalities and people (members)
• Decisions are usually based on consensus not on majority votes
• Generally, effective team Have clear purpose defined and accepted
mission, vision, goal and task that increases :Participation, civilized
disagreeing ,open communication, shared leadership, and self
assessment
 Implication for performance and
satisfaction
• Performance: Typically, clear role perception,
appropriate norms, low status differences, and
smaller, more cohesive groups lead to higher
performance
• Satisfaction: Increases with:
• High correspondence between boss’s and
employees’ perceptions about the job
• Not being forced to communicate with lower-
status employees
• Smaller group size
Are teams and groups same?