This document provides an overview of the syllabus for an organizational behaviour course. It includes 6 units that cover topics like individual behavior, group dynamics, leadership, communication, stress management, and organizational change. It also lists 5 reference books and outlines 20 lessons that will be covered in the course, providing a brief description of topics like introduction to organizational behavior, models of organizational behavior, and group conflict.

1. ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
MBA 1.2
#1

2. 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.
REFERENCE BOOKS
1. Fred Luthans, Organisational Behaviour, McGraw Hill Book Co., 1995.
2. Stephen P. Bobbins, Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, 1997.
3. Keith Davis, Human Behaviour at Wor/c,.-M.cGraw Hill Book Co.,
1991.
4. Gregory Moorehead and R.S. Griffin, Organisational Behaviours:
Managing People and Organisations, Jaico, 1994.
5. Judith R. Gordon, A Diagnostic Approach to Organisational
Behaviour, Allyn & Bacon, 1993.
#2

3. 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
#3

4. 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 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
#4

5. 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.
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
#5

6. 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
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
#6

7. 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
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
#7

8. 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.
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,
1
the environment surrounding the organisation and 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.
#8

9. 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.
Understanding Human Behaviour Organisational behaviour provides understanding 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
#9

10. 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
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
#10

11. 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.
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 organisational behaviour are considered
together, they provide a holistic concept of the subject. Holistic organisational behaviour interprets people-organisation
relationships 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.
#11

12. LESSON –3
Models of organizational behaviour
Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson, you should be able to understand:
The concept of organizational behaviour system
The different models of organizational behaviour
The importance of organizational behaviour to managers
The future of organizational behavior
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 products and services, level of customer service, employee satisfaction
and personal growth and development.
#12

13. 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 on Participation Self-discipline
psychological boss organization
result
Employee needs Subsistence Security Status and Self-actualization
met recognition
Performance Minimum Passive Awakened Moderate enthusiasm
result cooperation drives
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.
#13

14. 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 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.
#14

15. 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.
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.
#15

16. LESSON – 4
GLOBAL SCENARIO OF ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson, you should be able to understand:
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
environments. 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.
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
#16

17. '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.
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.
#17

18. LESSON – 5
FOUNDATION OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR
Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson, you should be able to:
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 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.
#18

19. 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 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.
#19

20. 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
The big, five personality dimensions are: extroversion, agreeableness, thoroughness, 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.
#20

21. LESSON - 6
PERSONALITY
Learning Objectives
After reading this lesson, you should be able to:
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 of identifying person-situation as interaction. This is equivalent to
recognizing the 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.
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.
#21

22. 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. 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-
#22

23. 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 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
#23

24. 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."
#24