Organizational behavior book 2 nd sem mba @ bec doms

ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

SYLLABUS
UNIT 1 Introduction to Organisational Behaviour, Meaning; Elements; Need;
Approaches; Models; Global scenario.

UNIT 2 Individual Behaviour; Personality; Learning; Attitudes; Perception; Motivation;
Ability; Their relevant organizational behaviour.

UNIT 3 Group dynamics; Group norms; Group cohesiveness;
Group Behance to organizational behaviour.

UNIT 4 Leadership Styles; Qualities; Organisational communication; Meaning
importance, process, barriers; Methods to reduce barriers; Principle of
effective communication.

UNIT 5 Stress; Meaning; Types; Sources; Consequences; Management of stress. Power
and Politics; Definition; Types of Powers; Sources; Characteristics; Effective
use of Power.

UNIT 6 Organisational Dynamics; Organisational design; Organisational effectiveness;
Meaning, approaches; Organisational culture; Meaning, significance;
Organisational Climate; Implications on organizational behaviour.
Organisational Change; Meaning; Nature; Causes of change; Resistance of
change; Management of change; Organisational development; Meaning; OD
Interventions.

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CONTENTS

No. LESSON Pg.no.
1. INTRODUCTION TO ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 4
2. FOUNDATION OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 7
3. MODELS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 12
4. GLOBAL SCENARIO OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR 16
5. FOUNDATION OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR 18
6. PERSONALITY 21
7. LEARNING AND BEHAVIOUR MODIFICATION 25
8. ATTITUDE AND PERCEPTION 28
9. MOTIVATION AND BEHAVIOUR 32
10. JOB SATISFACTION 44
11. GROUP DYNAMICS 47
12. GROUP CONFLICT 52
13. ORGANISATIONAL COMMUNICATIONS 56
14. LEADERSHIP IN ORGANISATIONS 66
15. STRESS MANAGEMENT 73
16. POWER AND POLITICS 77
17. ORGANISATIONAL DESIGN 81
18. ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND CLIMATE. 85
19. ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS 87
20. MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE CASE ANALYSIS 90

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LESSON – 1
INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson, you should be able to understand:

The major environmental challenges and the paradigm shift that the
management faces today
The management perspective of organizational behaviour
The historical background of modern organizational behaviour
The modern approach to organizational behaviour

The knowledge and information explosion, global competition, total quality and diversity are some of the
bitter realities that the managers are facing today. There are many solutions being offered to deal with these
complex challenges. Yet the simple but most profound solution may be found in the words of Sam Walton,
the richest person in the world and the founder of Wal-Mart. Sam was once asked the key to successful
organizations and management. Sam quickly replied, "People are the key".
The term paradigm comes from the Greek word 'paradigma', which means ''model, pattern or
example". First introduced over thirty years ago, by the philosophy and science historian Thomas Khun, the
term "paradigm" is now used as, a broad model, a framework, a way of thinking, and a scheme for
understanding reality. The impact of information technology, total quality and diversity mentioned earlier
has led to a paradigm shift.

NEW PARADIGM
The organizational behaviour has a goal lo help the managers make a transition to the new paradigm. Some
of the new paradigm characteristics include coverage of second-generation information technology and
total quality management such as empowerment, reengineering and benchmarking, and learning
organization for managing diversity of work. The new paradigm sets the stage for the study, understanding,
and application of the time-tested micro-variables, dynamics and macro-variables. One must know why
management needs a new perspective to meet the environmental challenges and to shift to a new paradigm.

A NEW PERSPECTIVE FOR MANAGEMENT
Management is generally considered to have three major dimensions—technical, conceptual and human.
The technical dimension consists of the manager's expertise in particular functional areas. They know the
requirements of the jobs and have the functional knowledge to get the job done. But the practicing
managers ignore the conceptual and human dimensions of their jobs.
Most managers think that their employees are lazy, and are interested only in money, and that if you
could make them happy in terms of money, they would be productive. If such assumptions are accepted, the
human problems that the management is facing are relatively easy to solve.
But human behaviour at work is much more complicated and diverse. The new perspective assumes
that employees are extremely complex and that there is a need for theoretical understanding given by
empirical research before applications can be made for managing people effectively.

MODERN APPROACH TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The modern approach to organizational behaviour is the search for the truth of why people behave the way
they do. The organizational behaviour is a delicate and complex process. If one aims to manage an
organization, it is necessary to understand its operation. Organization is the combination of science and
people. While science and technology is predictable, the human behaviour in organization is rather
unpredictable. This is because it arises from deep needs and value systems of people.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND FOR MODERN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Scientific Management Approach
Scientific management approach was developed by F.W. Taylor at the beginning of the 20th century. This
theory supported the use of certain steps in scientifically studying each element of a job, selecting and
training the best workers for the job arid making sure that the workers follow the prescribed method of
doing the job. It provided a scientific rationale for job specialization and mass production. His assumption

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was that employees are motivated largely by money. To increase the output, Taylor advised managers to pay
monetary incentives to efficient workers.
Yet, his theory was criticized by many employers and workers. Workers objected to the pressure of
work as being harder and faster. Critics worried that the methods took the humanity out of labor, reducing
workers to machines responding to management incentives. Therefore, Taylor's view is now considered
inadequate and narrow due to the points given by the critics.

Bureaucratic Approach
While scientific management was focusing on the interaction between workers and the task, me researchers
were studying how to structure the organization more effectively. Instead of trying to make each worker
more efficient, classical organization theory sought the most effective overall organizational structure for
workers and managers.

The theory's most prominent advocate, Max Weber, proposed a 'bureaucratic form' of structure,
which he thought would work for all organizations. Weber's idea! bureaucracy was , logical, rational and
efficient. He made the naive assumption that one structure would work best for all organizations.

Henry Ford, Henry Fayol and Frederick W. Taylor, the early management pioneers, recognized the
behavioral side of management. However, they did not emphasize the human dimensions. Although there
were varied and complex reasons for the emerging importance of behavioral approach to management, it is
generally recognized that the Hawthorne studies mark the historical roots for the field of organizational
behaviour.

Hawthorne Studies
Even, as Taylor and Weber brought attention with their rational, logical approaches to more efficient
productivity, their views were criticized on the ground that both approaches ignored worker's humanity.
The real beginning of applied research in the area of organizational behaviour started with
Hawthorne Experiments. In 1924, a group of professors began an enquiry into the human aspects of work
and working conditions at the Hawthorne plant of Western Electric Company, Chicago. The findings of these
studies were given a new name 'human relations' the studies brought out a number of findings relevant to
understanding human behaviour at work. The Human element in the workplace was considerably more
important. The workers are influenced by social factors and the behaviour of the individual worker is
determined by the group.
Hawthorne studies have been criticized for their research methods and conclusions drawn. But their
impact on the emerging field of organizational behaviour was dramatic. They helped usher in a more
humanity centered approach to work.

APPROACHES TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
There are mainly four approaches to organizational behaviour. They are:
• Human resources approach '
• Contingency approach
• Productivity approach
• Systems approach

Human Resources Approach
The human resources approach is concerned with the growth and development of people towards higher
levels of competency, creativity and fulfillment, because people are the central resource in any organization.
This approach help employees become better in terms of work and responsibility and then it tries to create a
climate in which they can contribute to the best of their improved abilities. This approach is also known as
'supportive approach' because the manager's primary role changes from control of employees to providing
an active support for their growth and performance.

A Contingency Approach
A contingency approach to organizational behaviour implies that different situations require different
behavioral practices for effectiveness instead of following a traditional approach for all situations. Each
situation must be analyzed carefully to determine the significant variables that exist in order to establish the
more effective practices. The strength of this approach is that it encourages analysis of each situation prior
to action. Thus, it helps to use all the current knowledge about people in the organization in the most
appropriate manner.

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Productivity Approach
Productivity is a ratio that compares units of output with units of input. It is often measured in terms of
economic inputs and outputs. Productivity is considered to be improved, if more outputs can be produced
from the same amount of inputs. But besides economic inputs and outputs, human and social inputs and
outputs also arc important.

Systems Approach
A system is an interrelated part of an organization or a society that interacts with everyone related to that
organization or society and functions as a whole. Within the organization 'people' employ 'technology' in
performing the 'task' that they are responsible for, while the 'structure' of the organization serves as a basis
for co-ordinating all their different activities. The systems view emphasizes the interdependence of each of
these elements within the organization, if the organization as a whole is to function effectively. The other
key aspect of the systems view of organization is its emphasis on the interaction between the organization
and its broader environment,, which consists of social, economic, cultural and political environment within
which they operate.
Organizations arc dependent upon their surrounding environment in two main ways: First, the
organization requires 'inputs' from the environment in the form of raw material, people, money, ideas and
so on. The organization itself can be thought of as performing certain 'transformation' processes, on its
inputs in order to create outputs in the form of products or services. Secondly, the organization depends on
environment such as, public to accept its output. The systems view of organization thus emphasizes on the
key interdependencies that organizations must manage. Within themselves the organizations must trade off
the interdependencies among people, tasks, technology and structure in order to perform their
transformation processes effectively and efficiently. Organizations must also recognize their
interdependence with the broader environments within which they exist.

CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
A Separate Field of Study
Organizational behaviour can be treated as a distinct field of study. It is yet to become a science. Now
efforts are being made to synthesize principles, concepts and processes in this field of study.

Interdisciplinary Approach
Organizational behaviour is basically an interdisciplinary approach. It draws heavily from other disciplines
like psychology, sociology and anthropology. Besides, it also takes relevant things from economics, political
science, law and history. Organizational behaviour integrates the relevant contents of these disciplines to
make them applicable for organizational analysis. e.g. it addresses issues, which may be relevant to the case,
such as the following:
What facilitates accurate perception and attribution?
What influences individual, group and organizational learning and the development of individual
attitudes toward .work?
How do individual differences in personality, personal development, and career development affect
individual's behaviours and attitudes?
What motivates people to work, and how. does the organizational reward system influence worker's
behaviour and attitudes?
How do managers build effective teams?
What contributes to effective decision-making?
What are the constituents of effective communication?
What are the characteristics of effective communication?
How can power be secured and used productively?
What factors contribute to effective negotiations?
How can conflict (between groups or between a manager and subordinates) be resolved or managed?
How can jobs and organizations be effectively designed?
How can managers help workers deal effectively with change?

An Applied Science
The basic objective of organizational behaviour is to make application of various researches to solve the
organizational problems, particularly related to the human behavioral aspect.

Normative and Value Centered

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Organizational behaviour is a normative science. A normative science prescribes how the various findings of
researches can be applied to get organizational results, which are acceptable to the society. Thus, what is
acceptable by the society or individuals engaged in an organization is a matter of values of the society and
people concerned.

Humanistic and Optimistic
Organizational behaviour focuses the attention on people from humanistic point of view. It is based on the
belief that needs and motivation of people are of high' concern. Further, there is optimism about the innate
potential of man to be independent, creative, predictive and capable of contributing positively to the
objectives of the organization.

Oriented towards Organizational Objectives
Organizational behaviour is oriented towards organizational objectives. In fact, organizational behaviour
tries to integrate both individual and organizational objectives so that both are achieved simultaneously.

A Total System Approach
An individual's behaviour can be analyzed keeping in view his psychological framework,
interpersonal-orientation, group influence and social and cultural factors; Thus, individual's nature is quite
complex and organizational behaviour by applying systems approach tries to find solutions for this
complexity.

LESSON –2

FOUNDATION OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson, you should be able to:

Define and explain the meaning of organizational behaviour
Understand the nature and importance of organizational behaviour
Relate the organizational behaviour to manager’s job

DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT
Management is commonly defined as "Getting work done through other people". This simple definition
explains the significance of the role of people. The work will not be done unless "people" want to do the
work and if the work is not done then there will be no organisation. Hence, the cooperation of the workers is
crucial to the success or failure of the organisation.

DEFINITION OF ORGANISATION
According to Gary Johns, "Organisations are social inventions for accomplishing goals through group
efforts". This definition covers wide variety-of groups such as businesses, schools, hospitals, fraternal
groups, religious bodies, government agencies and so on. There are three significant aspects in the above
definition, which require further analysis. They are as follows:
Social Inventions: The word "social" as a derivative of society basically means gathering of people. It
is the people that primarily make up an organisation.
Accomplishing Goals: All organisations have reasons for their existence. These reasons are the
goals towards which all organisational efforts are directed. While the primary goal .of any
commercial organisation is to make money for its owners, this goal is inter-related with many other
goals. Accordingly, any organisational goal must integrate in itself the personal goals of all
individuals associated with the organisation.
Group Effort: People, both as members of the society at large and as a part of an organisation
interact with each other and are inter-dependent. Individuals in themselves have physical and
intellectual limitations and these limitations can only be overcome by group efforts.

MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

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Organisational behaviour is concerned with people's thoughts, feelings, emotions and actions in setting up a
work. Understanding an individual behaviour is in itself a challenge, but understanding group behaviour in
an organisational environment is a monumental managerial task.

As Nadler and Tushman put it, "Understanding one individual's behaviour is challenging in and of
itself; understanding a group that is made up of different individuals and comprehending the many
relationships among those individuals is even more complex. Ultimately, the organisation's work gets done
through people, individually or collectively, on their, own or in collaboration with technology. Therefore, the
management of organisational behaviour is central to the management task—a task that involves the
capacity to "understand" the behaviour patterns of individuals, groups and organisations, to ''predict'" what
behavioural responses will be elicited by various managerial actions and finally to use this understanding
and these predictions to achieve "control".

Organisational behaviour can then be defined as: "The study of human behaviour in organisational
settings, the interface between human behaviour and the organisational context, and the organisation
itself."

The above definition has three parts—the individual behaviour, the organisation and the (interface
between the two. Each individual brings to an organisation a unique set of beliefs, values, attitudes and
other personal characteristics and these characteristics of all individuals must interact with each other in
order to create organisational settings. The organisational behaviour is specifically concerned with
work-related behaviour, which takes place in organisations.

In addition to understanding; the on-going behavioural processes involved, in 'their own jobs,
managers must understand the basic human element of their work. Organisational behaviour offers three
major ways of understanding this context; people as organisations, people as resources and people as
people.

Above all, organisations are people; and without people there would be no organisations. Thus, if
managers are to understand the organisations in which they work, they must first understand the people
who make up the organisations.

As resources, people are one of the organisation's most valuable assets. People create the
organisation, guide and direct its course, and vitalise and revitalise it. People make the decisions, solve the
problems, and answer the questions. As managers increasingly recognise the value of potential
contributions by their employees, it will become more and more important for managers and employees to
grasp the complexities of organisational behaviour.

Finally, there is people as people - an argument derived from the simple notion of humanistic
management. People spend a large part of their lives in; organisational settings, mostly as employees. They
have a right to expect something in return beyond wages and benefits. They have a right to expect
satisfaction and to learn new skills. An understanding of organisational behaviour can help the manager
better appreciate the variety of individual needs and' expectations.

Organisational behaviour is concerned with the characteristics and behaviours of employees in
isolation; the characteristics and processes that are part of the organisation itself; 'and the characteristics
and behaviours directly resulting from people with their individual needs and motivations working within the
structure of the organisation. One cannot understand an individual’s behaviour completely without learning
something about that individual's organisation. Similarly, he cannot understand how the organisation
operates without; studying the people who-make it up. Thus, the organisation influences and is influenced
by individuals.

ELEMENTS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The key elements in the organisational behaviour are people,, structure, technology and the environment in
which the organisation operates.
People: People make up the internal and social system of the organisation. They consist of
individuals and groups. The groups may be big or small; formal or informal; official or unofficial.
Groups are dynamic and they work in the organisation to achieve their objectives.

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Structure: Structure defines the formal relationships of the people in organisations. Different people
in the organisation are performing different type of jobs and they need to be (elated in some
structural way so that their work can be effectively co-ordinated.
Technology: Technology such as machines and work processes provide the resources with which
people work and affects the tasks that they perform. The technology used has a significant influence
on working relationships. It allows people to do more and work better but it also restricts' people in
various ways.
Environment: All organisations operate within an external environment. It is the part of a larger
system that contains many other elements such as government, family and other organisations. All
of these mutually influence each other in a complex system that creates a context for a group of
people.

NATURE OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Each individual brings to an organisation a unique set of personal characteristics, experiences from other
organisation, the environment surrounding the organisation and1 they also posses a personal background.
In considering the people working in an organisation, organisational behaviour must look at the unique
perspective that each individual brings to the work setting.

But individuals do not work in isolation. They come in contact with other individuals and the
organisation in a variety of ways. Points of contact include managers, co-workers, formal policies and
procedures of the organisation, and various changes implemented by the organisation. Over time, the
individual, too, changes, as a function of both the personal experiences and the organisation. The
organisation is also affected by the presence and eventual absence of the individual. Clearly, the study of
organisational behaviour must consider the ways in which the individual and the organisation interact.

An organisation, characteristically, exists before a particular person joins it and continues to exist
after he leaves it. Thus, the organisation itself represents a crucial third perspective from which to view
organisational behaviour.

NEED FOR STUDYING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The rules of work are different from the rules of play. The uniqueness of rules and the environment of
organisations forces managers to study organisational behaviour in order to learn about normal and
abnormal ranges of behaviour.

More specifically, organisational behaviour serves three purposes:
What causes behaviour?
Why particular antecedents cause behaviour?
Which antecedents of behaviour can be controlled directly and which are beyond control?

A more specific and formal course in organisational behaviour helps an individual to develop more
refined and workable sets of assumption that is directly relevant to his work interactions. Organisational
behaviour helps in predicting human behaviour in the organisational setting by drawing a clear distinction
between individual behaviour and group behaviour.

Organisational behaviour does not provide solutions to all complex and different behaviour puzzles of
organisations. It is only the intelligent judgement of the manager in dealing with a specific issue that can try
to solve the problem. Organisational behaviour only assists in making judgements that are derived from
tenable assumptions; judgement that takes into account the important variables underlying the situation;
judgement that are assigned due recognition to the complexity of individual or group behaviour; judgement
that explicitly takes into account the managers own goals, motives, hang-ups, blind spots and weaknesses.

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Organisational behaviour offers several ideas to management as to how human factor should be properly
emphasised to achieve organisational objectives. Barnard has observed that an organisation is a conscious
interaction of two or more people. This suggests that since an organisation is Ihe interaction of persons,
they should be given adequate importance in managing the organisation. Organisational behaviour provides
opportunity to management to analyse human behaviour and prescribe means for shaping it to a particular
direction.

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Understanding Human Behaviour Organisational behaviour provides under¬standing the human
behaviour in all directions in which the human beings interact. Thus, organisational behaviour can be
understood at the individual level, interpersonal level, group level and inter-group level.

Organisational behaviour helps to analyse 'why' and 'how' an individual behaves in a particular way.
Human behaviour is a complex phenomenon and is affected by a large number of factors including the
psychological, social and cultural implications. Organisational behaviour integrates these factors to provide*
simplicity in understanding the human behaviour.

Interpersonal Level: Human behaviour can be understood at the level of interpersonal interaction.
Organisational behaviour provides • means for understanding the interpersonal relationships in an
organisation. Analysis of reciprocal relationships, role analysis and transactional analysis are some of
the common methods, which provide such understanding.
Group Level: Though people interpret anything at their individual level, they are often modified by
group pressures, which then become a force in shaping human behaviour, Thus, individuals should
be studied in groups also.. Research in group dynamics has contributed vitally to organisational
behaviour and shows how a group behaves in its norms, cohesion, goals, procedures,
communication pattern and leadership. These research results are advancing managerial knowledge
of understanding group behaviour, which is very important for organisational morale and
productivity.
Inter-group Level: The organisation is made up of many groups that develop complex relationships
to build their process and substance. Understanding the effect of group relationships is important
for managers in today's organisation. Inter-group relationship may be in the form of co-operation or
competition.

The co-operative relationships help the organisation in achieving its objectives. Organisational behaviour
provides means to understand and achieve co-operative group relationships through interaction, rotation of
members among groups, avoidance of win-lose situation and focussing on total group objectives.

Controlling and Directing Behaviour: After understanding the mechanism of human behaviour,
managers are required to control and direct the behaviour so that it conforms to the standards
required for achieving the organisational objectives. Thus, managers are required to control and
direct the behaviour at all levels of individual interaction. Therefore, organisational behaviour helps
managers in controlling and directing in different areas such as use of power and sanction,
leadership, communication and building organisational climate favourable for better interaction.
Use of Power and Sanction: The behaviours can be controlled and directed by the use of power and
sanction, which are formally defined by the organisation. Power is referred to as the capacity of an
individual to take certain action and may be utilised in many ways. Organisational behaviour explains
how various means of power and sanction can ,be utilised so that both organisational and individual
objectives are achieved simultaneously.
Leadership: Organisational behaviour brings new insights and understanding to the practice and
theory of leadership. It identifies various leadership styles available to a manager and analyses which
style is more appropriate in a given situation. Thus, managers can adopt styles keeping in view the
various dimensions of organisations, individuals and situations.
Communication: Communication helps people to come in contact with each other. To achieve
organisational objectives, the communication must be effective. The communication process and its
work in inter-personal dynamics have been evaluated by organisational behaviour.
Organisational Climate: Organisational climate refers to the total organisational situations affecting
human behaviour. Organisational climate takes a system perspective that affect human behaviour.
Besides improving the satisfactory working conditions and adequate compensation, organisational
climate includes creation of an atmosphere of effective supervision; the opportunity for the
realisation of personal goals, congenial relations with others at the work place and a sense of
accomplishment.
Organisational Adaptation: Organisations, as dynamic entities are characterised by pervasive
changes. Organisations have to adapt themselves to the environmental changes by making suitable,
internal arrangements such as convincing employees who normally have the tendency of resisting
any changes.

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS

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Organisational behaviour can be viewed from different perspectives or levels of analysis. At one level, the
organisation can be viewed as consisting of individuals working on tasks in the pursuit of the organisational
goals. A second level of analysis focuses upon the interaction among organisational members as they work
in' teams, groups and departments. Finally, organisational behaviour can be analysed from the perspective
of the organisation as a whole.
Organisation at the Individual Level: Organisational behaviour can be studied in the perspective of
individual members of the organisation. This approach to organisational behaviour draws heavily on
the discipline of psychology and explains why individuals behave and react the way they do to
different organisational policies, practices and procedures. Within this perspective, psychologically
based theories of learning, motivation, satisfaction and leadership are brought to bear upon the
behaviour and performance of individual members of an organisation. Factors such as attitudes,
beliefs, perceptions and personalities are taken into account and their impact upon individuals’
behaviour and performance on the job is studied.
Organisation at the Group Level: People rarely work independently in organisations; they have to
necessarily work in coordination to meet the organisational goals. This frequently results in people
working together in teams, committees and groups. How do people work together in groups? What
factors determine whether group will be cohesive and productive? What types of tasks could be
assigned to groups? These are some of the questions that can be asked about the effective
functioning of groups in organisations. An important component of organisational behaviour
involves the application of knowledge and theories from social psychology to the study of groups in
organisations.
Organisation at the Organisational Level: Some organisational behaviour researchers take the
organisation as a whole as their object of study. This j macro perspective on organisational
behaviour draws heavily on theories and concepts from the discipline of 'sociology'. Researchers
seek to understand the implications of the relationship between the organisation and its
environment for the effectiveness of the organisation. Emphasis is placed upon understanding how
organisational structure and design influences the effectiveness of an organisation. Other factors
such as the technology employed by the organisation, the size of the organisation and the
organisation's age are also examined and their implications for effective organisational functioning
are explored.
These different perspectives on the study of organisational behaviour are not in conflict with one another.
Instead they are complementary. A full and complete understanding of the nature of organisations and the
determinants of their effectiveness requires a blending of knowledge derived from each perspective.

FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS OF ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Organisational behaviour starts with the following six fundamental concepts revolving around the nature of
people and organisations:
The nature of people:
Individual differences
A whole person
Motivated behaviour
Value of the person
The nature of organisation:
Social system
Mutual interest
Individual Differences: Individuals are different in their physical and mental traits. They are different
not only in the physical appearance such as sex, age, height, weight, complexion and so on but also
different in their psychological trait such as intelligence, attitude, motivation and perception. This
belief that each person is different from all others is typically called the 'Law of Individual
Differences'. Individual differences mean that the management has to treat them differently to get
the best out of them.
A Whole Person: Though the organisation may feel that they are employing only the individual's skill
or intelligence, in fact, they employ the 'whole person'. This means that individual does not have only
the skill and intelligence but he has a personal life, needs and desires as well. In other words, his
personal life cannot be separated from his work life since people function as total human beings.
When management practices organisational behaviour, it is not only trying to develop a better employee
but it also wants to develop a 'better person' in terms of all round growth and development. The benefit
will extend beyond the firm into the larger society in which each employee lives.
Motivated behaviour: It is the urge of the individual to satisfy a particular need that motivates him
to do an act. The motivation could be positive or negative.

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Motivation is essential for the proper functioning of organisations. The organisation can show to its
employees how certain actions will increase their need fulfilment.
Value of the Person: It is more an ethical philosophy. It stresses that people are to be treated with
respect and dignity. Every job, however simple, entitles the people who do it to proper respect and
recognition of their unique aspirations and abilities. Since organisational behaviour involves people,
ethical philosophy is involved in one way or the other.
The nature of an organisation can be understood with the help of tjie description of following two points:

Social System: A system is a group of independent and interrelated elements comprising a unified
whole. In context with an organisation, the individuals of a society are considered as a system
organised by a characteristic pattern of relationships having a distinctive culture and values. It is also
called social organisation or social structure. It can be further divided into following categories:
o Feudal system: This is a social system, which is developed in Europe in the 8th Century. A political
and economic system based on the holding of. land and relation of lord to vassal and characterized
by homage, legal and military service of tenants, and forfeiture.
o Patriarchate: This is social system, in which a male is considered to be the family head and title or
surname is traced through his chain. In other words, power lies in his hands.
o Matriarchate: This is social system, in which a female is considered to be the family head and title or
surname is traced through her chain. In other words, power lies in her hands.
o Meritocracy: This is a social system, in which power vests in the hands of the person with superior
intellects.
o Class Structure: This is a social system of different classes with in a society.
o Segregation: This is a social system, which provides separate facilities for minority groups of a
society.
Mutual Interest: Organisational relationships are most likely to be strong if different groups can
negotiate strategies. This can be defined as the interests that are common to both the parties and
are related to the accomplishment of their respective goals. This space for sharing ideas builds trust.
Individuals who have shared mutual interests are likely to make their organisation the strongest,
because even though the views are different they have a shared concern for similar objectives. It is
important for the individuals to think about their issues openly, and to incorporate the perspectives
of their colleagues. This helps to build sustainable and harmonious activities that can operate in the
mutual direct interests of the organisation.

Holistic Organisational Behaviour: When the above six concepts of organi¬sational behaviour are
considered together, they provide a holistic concept of the subject. Holistic organisational behaviour
interprets people-organisation relation¬ships in terms of the whole person, whole group, whole
organisation and whole social system.

Thus, the blending of nature of people and organisation results in an holistic organisational
behaviour.

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LESSON –3
Models of organizational behaviour

Learning Objectives

The concept of organizational behaviour system
The different models of organizational behaviour
The importance of organizational behaviour to managers
The future of organizational behaviour

Organizations have undergone tremendous change in the behaviour of their employee's. Earlier employers
had no systematic program for managing their employees instead their simple rules served as a powerful
influence on employees. However, today increasing many organizations are experimenting with new ways to
attract and motivate their employees.

CONCEPT OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR SYSTEM
Organizations achieve their goals by creating, communicating and operating an organizational behaviour
system. Organizational behaviour system defines organizational structure and culture and explains their
impact on employees. The figure 3.1 shows the major elements of a good organizational behaviour system:

These systems exist in every organization, but sometimes in varying forms. They have a greater chance of
being successful, though, if they have been consciously created, regularly examined and updated to meet
new and emerging conditions. The primary advantage of organizational behaviour system is to identify the
major human and organizational variables that affect organizational outcomes. For some variables
managers can only be aware of them and acknowledge their impact whereas for other variables, managers
can exert some control over them. The outcomes are measured in terms of quantity and quality of products
and services, level of customer service, employee satisfaction and personal growth and development.

These systems exist in every organization, but sometimes in varying forms. They have a greater
chance of being successful, though, if they have been consciously created, regularly examined and updated
to meet new and emerging conditions. The primary advantage of organizational behaviour system is to
identify the major human and organizational variables that affect organizational outcomes. For some
variables managers can only be aware of them and acknowledge their impact whereas for other variables,
managers can exert some control over them. The outcomes arc measured in terms of quantity and quality of

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products and services, level of customer service, employee satisfaction and personal growth and
development.

ELEMENTS OF THE SYSTEM
The system's base rests in the fundamental beliefs and intentions of those who join together to create it
such as owners and managers who currently administer it. The philosophy of organizational behaviour held
by management consists of an integrated set of assumptions and beliefs about the way things are, the
purpose for these activities, and the way they should be. These philosophies are sometimes explicit and
occasionally implicit, in the minds managers.
Organizations differ in the quality of organizational behaviour that they develop. These differences
are substantially caused by different models of organizational behaviour that dominant management's
thought in each organization. The model that a manager holds usually begins with certain assumptions
about people and thereby leads to certain interpretations of organizational events.
The following four models of organizational behaviour are as follows: A. Autocratic model
B. Custodial model
C. Supportive model
D. Collegial model

Autocratic Model
In an autocratic model', the manager has the power to command his subordinates to do a specific job.
Management believes that it knows what is best for an organization and therefore, employees are required
to follow their orders. The psychological result of this model on employees is their increasing dependence
on their boss. Its main weakness is its high human cost.

Custodial Model
This model focuses better employee satisfaction and security. Under this model organizations satisfy the
security and welfare needs of employees. Hence, it is known as custodian model. This model leads to
employee dependence on an organization rather than on boss. As a result of economic rewards and benefits,
employees are happy and contented but they are not strongly motivated.

Supportive Model
The supportive model depends on 'leadership' instead of power or money. Through leadership, management
provides a climate to help employees grow and accomplish in the interest of an organization. This model
assumes that employees will take responsibility, develop a drive to contribute and improve them if
management will give them a chance. Therefore, management's direction is to 'Support' the employee's job
performance rather than to 'support' employee benefit payments, as in the custodial approach. Since
management supports employees in their work, the psychological result is a feeling of participation and task
involvement in an, organization.
Collegial Model
The term 'collegial' relates to a body of persons having a common purpose. It is a team concept.
Management is the coach that builds a better team. The management is seen as joint contributor rather than
as a boss. The employee response to this situation is responsibility. The psychological result of the collegial
approach for the employee is 'self-discipline'. In this kind of environment employees normally feel some
degree of fulfillment and worthwhile contribution towards their work. This results in enthusiasm in
employees' performance.

FOUR MODELS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Autocratic Custodial Supportive Collegial
Basis of Model Power Economic Leadership Partnership
resources
Managerial- Authority Money Support Teamwork
orientation
Employee Dependence on Dependence Participation Self-discipline
psychological boss on
result organization
Employee needs Subsistence Security Status and Self-actualization
met recognition
Performance Minimum Passive Awakened Moderate
result cooperation drives enthusiasm

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It is wrong to assume that a particular model is the best model. This is because a model depends on
the knowledge about human behaviour in a particular environment, which is unpredictable. The primary
challenge for management is to identify the model it is actually using and then assess its current
effectiveness.

The selection of model by a manager is determined by a number of factors such as, the existing
philosophy, vision and goals of manager. In addition, environmental conditions help in determining which
model will be the most effective model.

IMPORTANCE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR TO MANAGERS
Managers perform four major functions such as planning, organizing, directing and controlling. In addition
to these functions there are ten managerial roles, which can be defined as organized set of behaviors
identified with the position. These roles are developed by Henry Mintzberg in 1960s after a careful study of
executives at work. All these roles, in one form or other deal with people and their behaviour. These ten
managerial roles are divided into three categories. The first category called the interpersonal roles arises
directly from the manager's position and the formal authority given to him. The second category, the
informational role arises as a direct result of the interpersonal roles and these two categories give rise to the
third category called decisional roles. Figure 3.2 shows the categories of managerial roles.

The roles, in the context of organizational behaviour, are as follows:
Interpersonal Roles
In every organization managers spend a considerable amount of time in interacting with other people both
within their own organizations as well as outside. These people include peers, subordinates, superiors,
suppliers, customers, government officials and community leaders. All these interactions require an
understanding of interpersonal behaviour. Studies show that interacting with people takes up nearly 80% of
a manager's time. These interactions involve the following three major interpersonal roles:
Figure/lead Role: Managers act as symbolic figureheads performing social or legal obligations.
These duties include greeting visitors, signing legal documents, taking important customers to lunch,
attending a subordinate's wedding and speaking at functions in schools and churches. All these,
primarily, are duties of a ceremonial nature but are important for the smooth functioning of an
organization.
Leadership Role: The influence of the manager is most clearly seen in the leadership role as a leader
of a unit or an organization. Since he is responsible for the activities of his subordinates therefore he

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must lead and coordinate their activities in meeting task-related goals and motivate them to perform
better. He must be an ideal leader so that his subordinates follow his directions and guidelines with
respect and dedication.
Liaison Role: The managers must maintain a network of outside contacts. In addition, they need to
have a constant contact with their own subordinates, peers and superiors in order to assess the
external environment of competition, social changes or changes in governmental rules and
regulations. In this role, the managers build up their own external information system. This can be
achieved by attending meetings and professional conferences, personal phone calls, trade journals
and informal personal contacts with outside agencies.

Information Roles
A manager, by virtue of his interpersonal contacts, emerges as a source of information about a variety of
issues concerning an organization. In this capacity of information processing, a manager executes the
following three roles.
Monitor Role: The managers are constantly monitoring and scanning their internal and external
environment, collecting and studying information regarding their organization. This can be done by
reading reports and periodicals, interrogating their liaison contacts and through gossip, hearsay and
speculation.
Information Disseminator Role: The managers must transmit the information regarding
changes in policies or other matters to their subordinates, their peers and to other members of
an organization. This can be done through memos, phone calls, individual meetings and group
meetings.
Spokesman Role: A manager has to be a spokesman for his unit and represent his unit in either
sending relevant information to people outside his unit or making some demands on behalf of his
unit.
Decision Roles
A manager must make decisions and solve organizational problems on the basis of the environmental
information received. In that respect, a manager plays four important roles.
Entrepreneur Role: Managers, as entrepreneurs are constantly involved in improving their units and
facing the dynamic technological challenges. They are constantly on the lookout for new ideas for
product improvement or product addition. They initiate feasibility studies, arrange capital for new
products and ask for suggestions from the employees to improve organization. This can
be achieved through suggestion boxes, holding strategy meetings with project managers and R&D
personnel.
Conflict Handling Role: The managers are constantly involved as judge in solving conflicts among
the employees and between employees and management. Mangers must anticipate such problems
and take preventive action and take corrective action once the problem arises. These problems may
involve labor disputes, customer complaints, employee grievances, machine breakdowns, cash flow
shortages and interpersonal conflicts.
Resource Allocation Role: The managers establish priorities among various projects or programs
and make budgetary allocations to different activities of an organization based on these priorities.
Negotiator Role: The managers in their negotiator role represent their organization in negotiating
deals and agreements within and outside of an organization. They negotiate contracts with the
unions. Sales managers may negotiate prices with prime customers. Purchasing managers may
negotiate prices with vendors.
All these ten roles are important in a manager's job and are interrelated, even though some roles may be
more influential than others depending upon the managerial position. For example, sales manager gives
more importance to interpersonal roles, while the production manager may give more importance to
decisional roles.

LIMITATIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Organizational behaviour cannot abolish conflict and frustration but can only reduce them. It is a
way to improve but not an absolute answer to problems.
It is only one of the many systems operating within a large social system.
People who lack system understanding may develop a 'behavioral basis', which gives them a narrow
view point, i.e., a tunnel vision that emphasizes on satisfying employee experiences while
overlooking the broader system of an organization in relation to all its public.

BSPATIL 15

The law of diminishing returns also operates in the case of organizational behaviour. It states, that at
some point increase of a desirable practice produce declining returns and sometimes, negative
returns. The concept implies that for any situation there is an optimum amount of a desirable
practice. When that point is exceeded, there is a decline in returns. For example, too much security
may lead to less employee initiative and growth. This relationship shows that organizational
effectiveness is achieved not by maximizing one human variable but by working all system variables
together in a balanced way.
A significant concern about organizational behaviour is that its knowledge and techniques could be
used to manipulate people without regard for human welfare. People who lack ethical values could
use people in unethical ways.
FUTURE OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
The growing interest in organizational behaviour stems from both a philosophical desire by many people to
create more humanistic work places and a practical need to design more productive work environments. As
a result of these forces, organizational behaviour is now a part of the curriculum of almost all courses
including engineering and medical.
The field of organizational behaviour has grown in depth and breadth. The keys to its past and
future success revolve around the related processes of theory development, research and managerial
practice.
Although organizational behaviour has certain limitations, it has a tremendous potential to
contribute to the advancement of civilisation. It has provided and will provide much improvement in the
human environment. By building a better climate for people, organizational behaviour will release their
creative potential to solve major social problems. In this way organizational behaviour will contribute to
social improvements. Improved organizational behaviour is not easy to apply but opportunities are there. It
should produce a higher quality of life in which there is improved harmony within each individual, among
people and among the organizations of future.

LESSON – 4
GLOBAL SCENARIO OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR

Learning Objectives

The global scenario of organizational behaviour
The barriers to cultural adaptation and measures to overcome those barriers

Due to globalization of economy, many organizations now operate in more than one country. These
multinational operations add new dimensions to organizational behaviour. It is a step into different social,
political and economic environ¬ments. Therefore, communication and control becomes difficult. The social,
political and economic differences among countries" influence international organizational behaviour.

SOCIAL CONDITIONS
In many countries due to poorly developed resources, there is shortage of managerial personnel, scientists
and technicians. Hence the required skills must be temporarily imported from other countries, and training
programs need to be developed to train the local workers. Trained locals become the nucleus for developing
others, thereby spreading the training through masses.
Another significant social condition in many countries is that the local culture is not familiar with
advanced technology. A few countries arc agriculture dominated and a few other manufacturing industries
dominated. Naturally, the nature of their culture and work life will be different.

POLITICAL CONDITIONS
Political conditions that have a significant effect on organizational behaviour include instability of the
government, restricting industries to a particular area and nationalistic drives such as self-sufficiency in
latest technologies. When the government is unstable, organizations become cautious about further
investments. This organizational instability leaves workers insecure and causes them to be passive and low
in taking any initiatives.
In spite of instability, a nationalistic drive is strong for locals to run their country and their
organizations by themselves without any interference by foreign nationals.

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In some nations, organized labor is mostly an arm of the authoritarian state and in some other
nations labor is somewhat independent. In some nations, State tends to be involved in collective bargaining
and other practices that affect workers. For example, workers' participation in management are restricted by
law while in other countries they are permitted.

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS
The most significant economic conditions in less developed nations are low per capita income and rapid
inflation. Inflation makes the economic life of workers insecure when compared to developed countries.
The different socio-economic and political conditions existing in countries influence the introduction
of advanced technology and sophisticated organizational systems. A developed country can easily adopt
advanced technology when compared to a less developed country. These limiting conditions cannot be
changed rapidly because they arc too well established and woven into the whole social fabric of a nation.

MANAGING AN INTERNATIONAL WORKFORCE
Whenever an organization expands its operations to other countries, it tends to become multicultural and
will then face the challenge of blending various cultures together. The managerial personnel entering
another nation need to adjust their leadership styles, communication patterns and other practices to fit their
host country. Their role is to provide fusion of cultures in which employees from both countries adjust to
the new situation seeking a greater productivity for the benefit of both the organization and the people of
the country in which it operates.

Barriers to Cultural Adaptation
Managers and other employees who come into a host country tend to exhibit different behaviors
and somewhat, see situation around them from their own perspectives. They may fail to
recognize the key differences between their own and other cultures. These people are called,
'parochial'.
Another category of managers called 'individualistic' place greatest emphasis on their personal needs
and welfare. They are more concerned about themselves than the host country.
Another potential barrier to easy adaptation of another culture occurs, when-people are predisposed
to believe that their homeland conditions are the-best. This predisposition is known as the
'self-reference criterion' or 'ethnocentrism'. This feeling interferes with understanding human:
behaviour in other cultures and obtaining productivity from local employees.

Cultural Distance
To decide the amount of adaptation that may be required when personnel moves to another country, it is
helpful to understand the cultural distance between the two countries. Cultural distance is the amount of
distance between any two social systems. Whatever may be the amount of cultural distance, it does affect
the responses of all individuals to business. The manager's job is to make the employees adapt to the other
culture and integrate the interests of the various cultures involved.

Cultural Shock
When employees enter another nation they tend to suffer cultural shock, which is the insecurity and
disorientation caused by encountering a different culture. They may not know how to act. may fear losing
face and self-confidence or may become emotionally upset. Cultural shock is virtually universal. Some of the
more frequent reasons for cultural shock are as follows:
Different management philosophies
New language
Alternative food, dress, availability of goods
Attitude towards work and productivity
Separation from family, friends and colleagues
Unique currency system
Many expatriates report difficulty in adjusting to different human resource management philosophies,
the language, the different currency and work attitudes in another culture.

Overcoming Barriers to Cultural Adaptation
Careful selection; of employees, who can withstand/adjust cultural shocks for international
assignments* is important.
Pre-departure training in geography, customs, culture and political environment in which the
employee will be living will help for cultural adaptation.

BSPATIL 17

Incentives and guarantees for better position will motivate employees for cultural adaptation in the
new country.
Employees who return to their home country after working in another nation for sometime tend to
suffer cultural shock in their own homeland. After adjusting to the culture of another nation and
enjoying its uniqueness, it is difficult for expatriates to re-adjust to the surroundings of their home
country. Hence, organizations need repatriation policies and programs to help returning employees
obtain suitable assignments and adjust to the 'new' environments.
Cultural Contingencies
Productive business practices from one country cannot be transferred directly to another country. This
reflects the idea of cultural contingency that the most productive practices for a particular nation will
depend heavily on the culture, social system, economic development and employee's values in the host
country. Hence, the expatriate managers must learn to operate effectively in a new environment with certain
amount of flexibility. Labor policy, personnel practices and production methods need to be adapted to a
different labor force. Organization structures and communication patterns need to be suitable for local
operations.

MANAGEMENT'S INTEGRATING ROLE
Once managers are in a host country, their attention needs to be directed toward integrating the
technological approaches with the local cultures involved.

Motivating and Leading Local Employees
Same motivational tools may not suit the employees of all the nations. Hence, appropriate motivational
techniques need to be implemented depending on the requirement of employees of that particular nation.
Similarly, communication problems may also arise between the expatriate manager and the
employees of the host country. Hence, managers need to make adjustments in their communication suited
to< local cultures. If local culture is ignored, the resulting imbalance in the social system interferes with the
productivity.
Eventually, a cadre of employees with cross-cultural adaptability can be developed in organizations
with large international operations. These employees are 'trans-cultural’ employees because they operate
effectively in several cultures. They are low in ethnocentrism and adapt readily to different cultures without
major cultural shock. They usually can communicate fluently in more than one language.
Trans-cultural employees are especially needed in large, multinational firms that operate in a-variety
of national cultures. For a firm to be truly multi-national in character, it should have ownership, operations,
markets and managers truly diversified. Its leaders look to the world as an economic and social unit; but
they recognize each local culture, respect its integrity, acknowledge its benefits and use its differences
effectively in their organization.

LESSON – 5

FOUNDATION OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR

Learning Objectives

Understand the nature of individual differences in organizations
Identify the individual factors affecting organizational behavior

INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR
Human behavior, which is; considered a complex phenomenon, is very difficult to define in absolute terms.
It is primarily a combination of responses to external and internal stimuli. These responses would reflect
psychological structure of the person and may be results' of the combination of biological and psychological
processes, which interpret them, respond to them in an appropriate manner and learn from the result of
these responses.
Psychologist Kurt Levin has conducted; considerable research into the human behavior and its
causes. He believes that people are influenced by a number of diversified factors, which can be both genetic
and environmental. The influence of these factors determines the pattern of human behavior.
Whenever people buy something, for example, a car, both the buyer and the seller sign a contract
that specifies the terms of the sales agreement. Similarly, most people, when they begin a working
relationship with an organization formulate a psychological contract with their employer. A psychological

BSPATIL 18

contract is the overall set of expectations that an individual holds with respect to his or her contributions to
the. organization and the organization's response to those contributions. A psychological contract is not
written down like a legal contract.
An individual makes a variety of contributions to an organization in the form of—efforts, skills,
ability, time, loyalty and so forth. These contributions presumably satisfy various needs and requirements of
the organization. In return for contributions, the organization provides incentives such as pay, promotion,
and job security to the employee. Just as the contributions available from the individual must satisfy the
organization's needs, the incentives must serve the employees' needs in return.
If both the individual and the organization consider the psychological contract fair and equitable,
they will be satisfied with the relationship and are likely to continue it. If either party perceives an imbalance
or iniquity in the contract, it may initiate a change. A major challenge faced by an organization, thus, is to
manage the psychological contracts.
One specific aspect of managing psychological contracts is managing the person-job fit. The
'person-job fit' is the extent to which the contributions made by the individual match the incentives offered
by the organization. In theory, each employee has a specific set of needs to fulfill and a set of job related
behaviors and abilities to contribute. If the organization can take complete advantage of those behaviors
and abilities and exactly fulfill the employee's needs, it will achieve a perfect person-job fit. Of course, such
a precise, level of person-job fit is seldom achieved due to various reasons such as imperfect selection
procedures, differences in individual skills, constant change in the needs and requirements of people and
organization. Thus, the behavior of individuals in organization is the primary concern of management and it
is essential that the managers should have an understanding of the factors influencing the behavior of the
employees they manage. The figure 5.1 identifies five sets of factors that have an impact upon individual
behavior in organizations.

NATURE OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Individual differences are personal attributes that vary from one person to another. Individual differences
may be physical and psychological. The figure 5.2 shows the attributes of physical and psychological
differences.

Physical Differences Psychological Differences
Height Personality
Weight Attitudes
Body Shape Perception
Appearance Motivation
Complexion Learning
figure
5.2

Whenever an organization attempts to assess the individual differences among its employees, it
must consider the situation in which that particular behavior occurs. Individuals who are satisfied in one
context may prove to be dissatisfied in another context. Assessing both individual differences and
contributions in relation to incentives and contexts, then, is a major challenge for organizations as they
attempt to establish effective psychological contracts with their employees and achieve optimal fits between
people and jobs.
Individual differences make the manager's job extremely challenging. In fact, according to a recent
research, "variability among workers is substantial at all levels but increases dramatically with job

BSPATIL 19

complexity. Due to these reasons, growing work force diversity compel managers to view individual
differences in a fresh way. Leaders now talk frequently about "valuing differences" and learn to "manage
diversity". So rather than limiting diversity, as in the past, today's managers need to better understand and
accommodate employee diversity and individual differences.

IMPORTANT DIMENSIONS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
Self-concept
Personality dimensions
Abilities, and
Personal values and ethics.

Self-concept
Self is the core of one's conscious existence. Awareness of self is referred to as one's self-concept.
Sociologists Viktor Gecas defines self-concept as "the concept the individual has of himself as a physical,
social and spiritual or moral being". In other words, every individual recognizes himself as a distinct
individual. A self-concept would be impossible without the capacity to think. This brings us to the role of
cognitions. Cognitions represent, "any knowledge, opinion, or belief about the environment about oneself,
or about one's behavior". Among many different types of cognitions, those involving expectation, planning,
goal setting, evaluating and setting personal standards are particularly relevant to organizational, behavior.

Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a belief over one's own worth based on an overall self-evaluation. Those with low
self-esteem tend to view themselves in negative terms. They do not feel good about themselves, tend to
have trouble in dealing effectively with others, and are hampered by self-doubts. High self-esteem
individuals, in contrast, see themselves as worthwhile, capable and acceptable. Although, high self-esteem
is generally considered a positive trait because it is associated with better performance and greater
satisfaction, recent research uncovered flaws among those having high self-esteem. Specifically, high
self-esteem subjects tended to become self-centered and boastful when faced with situations under
pressure Hence moderate self-esteem is desirable.

Managers can build employee self-esteem in four ways:
1. Be supportive by showing concern for personal problems, interests, status and contribution.
2. Offer work involving variety, autonomy and challenges that suit the individual's values, skills and
abilities.
3. Strive for management-employee cohesiveness and trust building.
4. Have faith in each employee's self-management ability, reward successes.

Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is a person's belief about his' or her chances of successfully accomplishing a specific task.
According to one organizational behavior writer, "Self-efficacy arises from the gradual acquisition of
complex, cognitive, social, linguistic, and/or physical skills through experience",
There is strong linkage between high self-efficacy expectations and success in terms of physical and
mental tasks, anxiety reduction, addiction control, pain tolerance and illness recovery. Oppositely, those
with low self-efficacy expectations tend to have low success rates.

Self-efficacy Implications for Managers
Managers need to nurture self-efficacy in them and in their employees. Self-efficacy requires constructive
action in each of the following managerial areas:
To design recruitment selection procedure.
To design interview questions to probe applicant's general self-efficacy for determining orientation
and training needs.
For designing job.
For systematic self-management training.
For goal-setting and quality improvement.
To evolve suitable leadership.
To design suitable regards.

Personality Dimensions

BSPATIL 20

The big, five personality dimensions are: extroversion, agreeableness, thorough¬ness, emotional stability
and openness to experience. Ideally, these personality dimensions that correlate positively and strongly with
job performance would be helpful in the selection, training and appraisal of employees. The individuals who
exhibit; traits associated with a strong sense of responsibility and determination generally perform better
than those who do not.

PHYSICAL AND INTELLECTUAL QUALITIES
Physical differences among individuals are the most visible of all differences. They are also relatively easy to
assess. Intellectual differences are somewhat more difficult to discern, but they too can be assessed by fairly
objective means. The abilities/skills and competencies of employees are both physical and intellectual
qualities.
Ability refers to an individual's skill to perform effectively in one or more areas of activity, such as
physical, mental or interpersonal work.
Individuals with numerical ability, for example, can be trained to apply their ability in the field of
engineering, accounting and computer science. Abilities develop from an individual's natural
aptitudes and subsequent learning opportunities. Aptitudes are relatively stable capacities for
performing some activity effectively. Learning opportunities translate aptitude into abilities through
practice, experience and formal training. Organizations have to ensure that people possess the
necessary abilities to engage in the behaviors required for effective performance. This can 6e
accomplished either by careful selection of people or by a combination of selection and training.
Skills are generally thought of as being more task-specific capabilities than abilities. For example, an
individual with numerical ability who goes to school to learn accounting develops a numerical skill
specific to that field'. Thus, when a particular ability is applied to a specialized area, (for example
accounting), it becomes a skill.
Competencies are skills associated with specialization. Competencies are skills that have been
refined by practice and experience and that enable, the-individual to specialize in some field. For
example, an accountant with numerical "ability and accounting skill takes a position in the Taxation
Department and as time passes, he develops more competency as a tax expert.

Physical abilities such as strength, flexibility, endurance and stamina can be developed with exercise and
training. Mental abilities such as reasoning, memory visualization, comprehension and inter-personal
abilities can also be developed through practice and education. Even in the absence of such formal
programs, many individuals manage their own careers in such a way as to continually upgrade their abilities,
skills and competencies in order to remain valuable to their organizations.

PERSONAL VALUES AND ETHICS
According to Milton Rokeach, a value is "an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct or
end-stated of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct are
end-state of existence".
Ethics involve the study of moral issues and choices. It is concerned with right versus wrong and
good versus bad. Relative to the workplace, the terms business ethics and management ethics are often
heard.

Moral Principles for Managers
Judge actions by their consequences; achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
Basic human rights should be respected.
Rules and rewards should be administered impartially, fairly and equitably.

Improving Organization's Ethical Climate
Managers are powerful role models whose habits and actual behavior send clear signals about the
importance of ethical conduct. Ethical behavior is a 1 top to bottom proposition.
Screen potential employees by checking references, credentials, and other information for
ascertaining their ethical behavior.

BSPATIL 21

LESSON - 6
PERSONALITY

Learning Objectives

Understand perceptual clarity about personality
Discuss main determinants of personality
Explain nature and dimensions of personality
Describe personality attributes that are relevant to organizational behavior

Personality is a complex, multi-dimensional construct and there is no simple definition of what personality
is. Maddi defines personality as, “A stable set of characteristics and tendencies that determine those
commonalities and differences in the psychological behavior and that may not be easily understood as the
sole result of the social and biological pressures of the moment".
From the above definition we can infer that all individuals have some universally common
characteristics. Yet they differ in some other specific attributes. This makes it difficult for the managers to
assume that they can apply same reward types or motivation techniques to modify different individual
behaviors. The definition, however, does not mean that people never change. In simple terms, it asserts that
individuals do not change all at once. Their thoughts, feelings, values and actions remain relatively stable
over time. Changes in individual's personality can, however, occur gradually over a period of time. The
managers should, therefore, attempt to understand certain dimensions of personality. This can enable them
to predict the behavior of their employees on a daily basis.
Some personality theorists stress the need 6f identifying person-situation as interaction. This is
equivalent to recognizing thd social learning aspects related to personality. Such a social learning analysis is
one of the most comprehensive and meaningful ways included in the overall study of organizational
behavior. From this perspective, personality means the way people affect others. It also involves people's
understanding themselves, as well as their pattern of inner and outer measurable traits, and the person and
situation interaction. People affect others depending primarily upon their external appearance such as
height, weight, facial features, color and other physical aspects and traits.
Personality traits are very important in organizational behavior. In particular, five personality traits
especially related to job performance have recently emerged from research. Characteristics of these traits
can be summarized as follows:

1. Extroversion: Sociable, talkative and assertive.
2. Agreeableness: Good-natured, cooperative and trusting.
3. Conscientiousness: Responsible, dependable, persistent and achievement-oriented.
4. Emotional Stability: Viewed from a negative standpoint such as tense, insecure and nervous.
5. Openness to Experience: Imaginative, artistically sensitive and intellectual.

Identifying the above "big five" traits related to performance reveals that personality plays an important
role in organizational behavior. Besides physical appearance and personality traits, the aspects of
personality concerned with the self-concept such as self-esteem and self-efficacy and the person-situation
interaction also play important roles.

PERSONALITY FORMATION
The personality formation of an individual starts at birth and continues throughout his life. Three major
types of factors play important roles in personality formation, which are as follows:
Determinants: The most widely studied determinants of personality are biological, social and
cultural. People grow up in the presence of certain hereditary characteristics (body shape and height),
the social context (family and friends) and the cultural context (religion and values). These three
parts interact with • each other to shape personality. As people grow into adulthood, their
personalities become very clearly defined and generally stable.
Stages: According to Sigmund Freud human personality progresses through four stages: dependent,
compulsive, oedipal and mature. This concept of stages of growth provides a valuable perspective to
organizational behavior. Experienced managers become aware of the stages that their employees
often go through. This helps them 19 deal with these stages effectively and promote maximum
growth for the individual and for the organization.

BSPATIL 22

Traits: Traits to personality are also based on psychology. According to some trait theories, all
people share common traits, like social, (political, religious and aesthetic preferences but each
individual's nature differen¬tiates that person from all others.

PERSONALITY FACTORS IN ORGANISATIQN5
Some of the important personality factors that determine what kind of behaviors are exhibited at work
include the following:

Need Pattern
Steers and Braunstein in 1976 ^developed a scale for the four needs of personality that became apparent in
the 'work environment. They are as follows:

The need for achievement: Those with a high achievement need engage themselves proactively in
work behaviors in order to feel proud of their achievements and successes.
The need for affiliation: Those in greater need for affiliation like to work cooperatively with others.
The need for autonomy: Those in need for autonomy function in the best way when not closely
supervised.
The need for dominance: Those high in need for dominance are very effective while operating in
environments where they can actively enforce their legitimate authority.

Locus of Control
Locus of control is the degree to which an individual believes that his or her behavior has direct impact on
the consequences of that behavior. Some people, for example, believe that if they work hard they will
certainly succeed. They, strongly believe that each individual is in control of his or her life. They are said to
have an internal locus of control. By contrast, some people think that what happens to them is a result of
fate, chance, luck or the behavior of other people, rather than the lack of skills or poor performance on their
part. Because- these individuals think that forces beyond their control dictate the happenings around them,
they are said to have an external locus of control.
As a personality attribute, locus of control has clear implications for organizations. For example,
certain individuals have an internal locus of control, which means they have a relatively strong desire to
participate in the management of their organizations and have a' freedom to do their jobs. Thus, they may
prefer a decentralized organization where they have a right of decision-making and work with a leader who
provides them freedom and autonomy. They may like a reward system that recognizes individual
performance and contributions.
Conversely, people with an external locus of control, are likely to prefer a more centralized
organization where they need not take any decisions. They may incline to structured jobs where standard
procedures are defined for them. They may prefer a leader who makes most of the decisions and a reward
system that considers seniority rather than merit.

Introversion and Extroversion
Introversion is the tendency of individuals, which directs them to be inward and process feelings, thoughts
and ideas within themselves. Extroversion, on the contrary, refers to the tendency in individuals to look
outside themselves, searching for external stimuli with which they can interact. While there is some element
of introversion as well as extroversion in all of us, people tend to be dominant as either extroverts or
introverts. Extroverts are sociable, lively and gregarious and seek outward stimuli or external exchanges.
Such individuals are likely to be most successful while working in the sales department, publicity office,
personal relations unit, and so on, where they can interact face to face with others. Introverts, on the other
Hand, are quiet, reflective, introspective, and intellectual people, preferring to interact with a small intimate
circle of friends. Introverts are more likely to be successful when they can work on highly abstract ideas
such as R&D work, in a relatively quiet atmosphere. Since managers have to constantly interact with
individuals both in and out of the organization and influence people to achieve the organization's goals, it is
believed that extroverts are likely to be more successful as managers.

Tolerance for Ambiguity
This personality characteristic indicates the level of uncertainty that people can tolerate to work efficiently
without experiencing undue stress. Managers have to work well under conditions of extreme uncertainty
and insufficient information, especially when things are rapidly changing in the organization's external
environment. Managers who have a high tolerance for ambiguity can cope up well under these conditions.
BSPATIL 23

Managers, who have a low tolerance for ambiguity may be effective in structured work settings but find it
almost impossible to operate effectively when things are rapidly changing and much information about the
future events is not available. Thus, tolerance for ambiguity is a personality dimension necessary for
managerial success.

Self-Esteem and Self-Concept
Self-esteem denotes the extent to which individuals consistently regard themselves as capable, successful,
important and worthy individuals. Self-esteem is an important personality factor that determines how
managers perceive themselves and their role in the organization. Self-esteem is important to self-concept,
i.e., the way individuals, define themselves as to who they are and derive their sense of identity. High
self-esteem provides a high sense of self-concept, which, in turn, reinforces high self-esteem. Thus, the
two are mutually reinforcing. Individuals with a high self-esteem will try to take on more challenging
assignments and be successful. Thus, they will be enhancing their self-concept i.e., they would tend to
define themselves as highly valued individuals in the organizational system. The higher the self-concept and
self-esteem, the greater will be their contributions to the goals of the organization, especially when the
system rewards them for their contributions.

Authoritarianism and Dogmatism
Authoritarianism is the extent to which an individual believes that power and status differences are
important within' hierarchical social systems like organizations. For example, an employee who is highly
authoritarian may accept directives or orders from his superior without much questioning. A person who is
not highly authoritarian might agree to carry out appropriate and reasonable directives from his boss. But
he may also raise questions, express disagreement and even refuse to carry out requests if they arc for
some reason objectionable.
Dogmatism is the rigidity of a person's beliefs and his or her openness to other viewpoints. The
popular terms 'close-minded' and 'open-minded' describe people who are more and less .dogmatic in their
beliefs respectively. For example, a manager may be unwilling to listen to a new idea related to doing
something more efficiently. He is said to be a person who is close-minded or highly dogmatic. A manager
who is very receptive to hearing about and trying out new ideas in the same circumstances might be seen as
more open-minded or less dogmatic. Dogmatism can be either beneficial or detrimental to organizations,
but given the degree of change in the nature of organizations and their environments, individuals who are,
not dogmatic are most likely to be useful and productive organizational members.

Risk Propensity
Risk-propensity is the decree to which an individual is willing to take chances and make risky decisions. A
manager with a high-risk propensity might be expected to experiment with new ideas and to lead the
organization in new directions. In contrast, a manager with low risk propensity might lead to a stagnant and
overly conservative organization.

Machiavellianism
Machiavellianism is manipulating or influencing other people as a primary way of achieving one's goal. An
individual tends to be Machiavellian, if he tends to be logical in assessing the system around, willing to twist
and turn facts to influence others, and try to gain control of people, events and situations by manipulating
the system to his advantage.

Type A and B Personalities
Type A persons feel a chronic sense of time urgency, are highly achievement-oriented, exhibit a competitive
drive, and are impatient when their work is slowed down for any reason. Type B persons are easy-going
individuals who do not feel the time urgency, and who do not experience the competitive drive. Type A
individuals are significantly more prone to heart attacks than Type B individuals. While Type A persons help
the organization to move ahead in a relatively short period of time they may also suffer health problems,
which might be detrimental to both themselves and the organization in the long run.

Work-Ethic Orientation
Some individuals are highly work-oriented while others try to do the minimum Work that is necessary to get
by without being fired on-the-job. The extremely work oriented person gets greatly involved in the job.
Extreme work ethic values could lead to traits of "workahollism" where work is considered as the only
primary motive for living with very little outside interests. For a workaholic turning to work can sometimes
become a viable alternative to facing non-work related problems. A high level of work ethic orientation of
members is good for the organization to achieve its goals. Too much "workahollism", however, might lead

BSPATIL 24

to premature physical and mental exhaustion and health problems, which is dysfunctional for both
organization and the workaholic members.
The above ten different personality predispositions are important for individual, managerial
and organizational effectiveness.

DESIRED PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS FOR EFFECTIVE MANAGERS

Obviously, there arc some personality ^predispositions, which are favourable "to managerial effectiveness
and to the success of managers. Apart from possessing the necessary skills and abilities, managers need to
develop a high tolerance for ambiguity. There are many changes taking place in the internal and the
external environment of an organization.. Naturally, several unpredictable factors are involved in any
complex situation, which are beyond the managers’ control. Therefore, they should be able to, handle
situations as they come, without experiencing undue stress. Thus, a high tolerance for ambiguity is a
desired managerial trait. Managers with a good mix of achievements, affiliations and power will be
successful in most situations. This is because they will have the drive to achieve the goals and the
interpersonal orientation to get the job done through others. In sales and other people-oriented roles,
extrovert managers will fit better in their jobs. Similarly, managers with internal locus of control will be
more efficient as intellectual and skilled performers. Managers with good work ethic values, will get more
involved in their jobs and make things happen. They are likely to be more successful in their jobs. Managers
with Type A personalities may suit very well for some jobs, which have inbuilt performance pressures and
deadlines, but they need to know how to relax through exercises and self-monitor their stress levels.

Personality is a relatively stable factor, but our predispositions can be changed through conscious
choice. For instance, our tolerance for ambiguity and ability to handle stress can be considerably enhanced;
the attributions we make for success such as internal versus external-locus of control can be changed. Also,
our latent needs can be activated and our skills in decision-making can be increased through training
programs and by deliberately making the necessary changes. Recognizing the essential ingredients for
managerial success is the first step towards making the changes.

THE SELF-CONCEPT: SELF-ESTEEM AND SELF-EFFICACY
People's attempt to understand themselves is called the self-concept in personality theory. The human self
is made of many interacting parts and may be thought of as the personality viewed from within. This self is
particularly relevant to the concepts of self-esteem and self-efficacy in the field of organizational behavior.

People's self-esteem has to do with their self-perceived competence and self-image. Considerable
research has been done on the role played by self-esteem outcomes in the organizational behavior. Most
recently done studies indicate that self-esteem plays an important moderating role in the areas of emotional
and behavioral responses and stress of organizational members. It was recently noted that, "both research
and everyday experience confirm that employees with high self-esteem feel unique, competent, secure,
empowered and connected, to the people around them"

Self-efficacy is concerned with self-perceptions of how well a person can cope with situations as
they arise. Those with high self-efficacy feel capable and confident of performing well in a situation. In the
field of organizational behavior, self-efficacy is conceptually close to self-esteem. Miner points out the
differences by noting that self-esteem tends to be a generalized trait (it will be present in any situation),
while self-efficacy tends to be situation specific. Self-efficacy; has been shown to have an empirical
relationship with organizational performance and other dynamics of organizational behavior.

In summary, personality is a very diverse and complex cognitive process. It incorporates almost
everything. As defined above, personality means the whole person. It is concerned with external appearance
and traits, self and situational interactions. Probably the best statement on personality was made many
years ago by Kluckhohn and Murray, "to some extent, a person's personality is like all other people's, like
some other people's, and like no other people's."

BSPATIL 25

Organizational behavior book 2 nd sem mba @ bec doms

Organizational behavior book 2 nd sem mba @ bec doms

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