Question # .2 Outline the importance of an individual’s contribution to the organization and the factors affecting his behavior.

1. Department of Business Administration.
Assignment no.1
Organizational Behavior (565)
Submitted To
Most Respectable,
Prof.Qasim Raza
Submitted By
Engr.Waseem Saeed
Roll AD-512530
Semester 3’ rd
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD,
PAKISTAN.
Spring 2010

2. Question # .2
Outline the importance of an individual’s contribution to the
organization and the factors affecting his behavior.
Answer:
Organizations are composed of individuals. Each
individual is an island in himself, When an individualis appointed, his
skill alone is not hired, but his social background, likes and dislikes,
pride and prejudices etc is also hired.
Individuals make up communities. This strength comes
from the individualwithin a community acting together and sharing a
common ideal. Each individualis differentfrom others in several ways.
Whether it is intelligence,physique, personalityor any such trait, one can
find strikingdifferences. This concept says that each person in this world is
unique. Individualdifference means thatmanagementcan get the greatest
motivation among employees by treating them differently Human
behavior is the population of behaviors exhibitedby humans and
influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, authority,
rapport, hypnosis, persuasion, coercion and/or genetics.

3. Individuals differ widely in their physical characteristics,
temperamental qualities,mental abilities and the ways in which they
behave. The behavior of each individual is influenced by several factors.
No two individuals are alike in their physical characteristics like height,
weight, appearance etc. This also equally true of the psychological
characteristics of individuals such as their intelligence, interests and
aptitudes, personal qualities like aggressiveness,honesty and so on.
These individualdifferences, both in physical and psychological
characteristics of the individuals for the very basis of organizational
psychology.
PSYCHOLOGICALFACTORS:
Psychological factors are an individual’s mental
characteristics and attributes thatcan affect an individual’s behavior.There
are several psychological factors and more prominentamong them are
given below

4. A. Difference in Intelligence.
People differ greatly in their intelligence and this affect their
capacity to work. Person’s intelligence is often a very good index of his
abilityto cope with varied problems oflife. It hardly needs sayingthat
various jobs and positions in industry require varying degrees of
Intelligence, if they are to be carried out effectively
B. Difference in Interest.
We know that people differ greatly in their interests. Some
prefer to work quietly in indoors, others like to move about, some others
have greatinterest in music, acting, law, politics, some like repetitive
type of work, others are bored by it. Organizationalpsychologists have
found that an individualwhoworks in the area of his interest is much
more satisfied than one who has to do some work that has no relation with
his interest.
C. Difference in Personality Characteristics.
People alsodiffer vary widelyin their personality. The term
personality as it is used in Psychology, usually applies to emotional
qualities of a person as well as certain uncharacteristicways of his
behaving.Most of these are learned by an individual through his own
experiences in life or by imitatingsignificantpeople in his surroundings. .

5. FACTOR AFFECTING INDIVIDUAL
BEHAVIOUR
PersonalFactors
Physical- Characteristics.
1. Age.
2. Sex.
3. Education
4. Abilities.
5. Marital status.
6. Number of
Dependants
Environmental
Factors
1. Economic
2. Social Norms
Cultural values
3. Political
Organizational
Factors.
1. Physical Facilities.
2. Organizations
3. Structure and
Design.
4. Leadership.
5. Reward System.
6. Motivation
PsychologicalFactors.
1. Personality.
2. Perception.
3. Attitudes.
4. Intelligence
5. Interest

6. D. Learning.
Human beings greatestassetis their capacity to learn through
their experience with the things Encountered in life. People vary greatly in
their capacity to learn. Whata man or his behavior is is largelydetermined
by the way he has learned in life. Learningacquires greatimportance in
many situations in industry, butmore directly so, when we are concerned
with the problems of training.
E. Difference in Perception.
People alsodiffer in the ways they perceive the world
surrounding them. In its simple sense, perception is understood as the act
of seeing what is there to be seen. Perception refers to the unique reading
of a situation.
F. Attitudes.
Attitude is an importantfactor, which affects human behavior.
It is a tendency to feel and behave in a particular way towards some
objects. Individualsacquire attitudes from differentsources. The most
importantsources of acquiring attitudes are directexperience with the
object, association, familyetc.

8. PERSONNALFACTORS.
Every individual brings tothe work place, a variety of
personal characteristics and attributes like age, education, abilities and
similarrelated factors.
A. Differencesin Physical Characteristics.
Physical characteristics like height, weight,strength,
keenness of vision, keenness of hearing, reaction time, etc are often
measured in some context or other. The study of the differences in such
physical characteristics acquires greatimportance, because successful
performance often depends upon some of these characteristics. Some heavy
job require Considerablephysical energy,others require a very keen sense
of vision or learning.
B. Age.
Age is an importantvariable because of its impact on
performance turnover, productivity and Satisfaction. Performance depends
on age. As age advances, performance is likely todecline. Similarlyageing
has impacton turnover. There is positive association between age and
satisfaction level of employees.
C. Sex.
The issues of male and female employees have received
considerableattention from academics, Sociologists and researchers. There
may be differences in problem solving ability,analytical skill, motivation,
and leadershipor learning ability. Sex has its impact on absenteeism also. It
has been proved that sometimes absenteeism is high among female
workers due to family responsibilities.

9. D. Education.
Education has its effect upon individualdifference, and behavior,
largelythrough the level of education received. Increased levels of
education positively affect the working capacity and ability of a person.
The type of education can also affect the behavior of a person.
E. Abilities.
Ability refers to an individual’s capacity to perform the
various tasks in a job. Ability ofan individual is made up of two sets of
skills. Intellectual and physical. Intellectual abilities are needed to perform
mental activities. IQ tests, for example, are designed to ascertain ones
intellectual abilities.Physical abilities manifestin ones stamina, strength
and the like. As each Employee’s physical abilities are different; their
performance level will alsobe different.
F.MaritalStatus.
Maritalstatus has influence on people’s behavior.It affects
absenteeism, turnover and Satisfaction levels. As marriage imposes
additionalresponsibility;hence the needs for steady job and steady
income. The success or failure of ones marriage life alsoaffects the behavior
of the individual.
G. NumberofDependants.
There is correlation between number of dependants an employee
has and his behavior in an Organization. Numberof children an employee
has is positively related toabsence, especially among females.

10. ENVIRONMENTALFACTORS.
A. EconomicFactors.
The economic environmentis an importantdeterminantof
individual difference. All work is performed within economic framework
that both directly and indirectlyaffects the individuals working in it.
Employmentopportunities will have a strong influence on behavior. Fewer
job opportunities increase the emphasis on job security and can even
change the basicnature of the employee. Wages satisfy various individual
needs. Money is a complex variable and its effect on individual behavior
varies tremendously.
B. CulturalEnvironment.
The cultural environmentis made up of institutions and other
forces that affect the society’s Basicvalues, perceptions, work ethics,
preferences and behavior. People grow up in a particular society that
shape their basicbeliefs, values and behaviors. Culture varies from country
to country and these variations produce different behaviors;work ethics,
achievementneed, effort reward expectations and values are important
cultural factors which affect individuals. In the context of job, work ethic
implies hard work and commitmentto work. Strong work ethic ensures
motivated employees.
C. Political Factors.
The political climate in which an individuallives can affect
the individualbehavior through several factors. The political ideology of a
country and society affects individual behavior.

11. ORGANIZATIONALFACTORS.
Individualbehavior is alsoinfluenced by physical facilities,
organization structure and design, leadershipand rewardsystem in an
organization.
A. Facilities.
The physical facilities such as lighting, heating, ventilation,air
conditioning, space provided, Equipment’s etc will have their influence on
employee behavior and performance.
B. Organization Structure and Design.
An organization is a planned co ordination of a number of people
and their activities for the Achievementof some specific goals.
Organization structure shows the way in which differentgroups and
departments in the organization are setup. The behavior and performance
of an individual is influenced by where that person fits into the overall
structure and design of the organization.
C. Leadership.
The organization establishes a system of leadership and
supervision to provide direction, Assistance, advice and coaching to
individual members.The leader behavioris, therefore, a potential source of
influence on an individual.
D. Reward Systems.
Organizations establish rewardsystems to compensate their
employees. The behavior and Performance of an individualis influenced
by the reward system his organization has established.

12. E. Motivation.
Another factor which affects individualdifference is motivation.
One of the most importanttask of a management job is to identify and
activate employee motives consciously and constructively towards the
achievementof the objectives