1. INTRODUCTION

Definition:1) Organizational Behavior is the study of and application of knowledge about how people act with organizations. It is a human tool for human benefit. It applies broadly to the behavior of people in all type of organization such as business, government, schools and service organization. Whatever organization are, there is a need to understand organizational behavior - Keith Davis.

2) Organizational Behavior or “OB” for short is the study of individual and groups in organizations. It is a body of knowledge that has special implications for the ways in which manager’s deal with the people in any work setting – Schermershon, John R

What is meant by Organization Behavior? It is an attempt to replace all management with behavioral science concepts and techniques? How, if at all, does it differ from good old applied or industrial psychology? Fortunately, these questions have been largely been answered to the satisfaction of most management academicians, behavioral scientists and management practitioners.

Figure: The Relationship

of

organizational Behavior to other closely related disciplines

.

Figure above shows in very general terms the relationship between and emphasis of Organizational Behavior (OB) and the related disciplines of Organization Theory (OT), Organization Development (OD) and Personal and Human Resource (P/HR). as shown OB tends to be more theoretically oriented and at the micro level of analysis. Specifically OB draws as many theoretical frameworks as the behavioral sciences that are focused at understanding and explaining individual and group behavior in organization. As with other sciences OB accumulates knowledge and test theories by accepted scientific methods of

OT

Organization Theory

OB

Organization Behavior

OD

Organizational Development

P/HR

Personal / Human Resource

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Theoretical

Applied

research. In summary, Organizational Behavior can be defined as the Understanding, Prediction and Management of Human Behavior in Organizations.

The Key elements in organizational Behavior are PEOPLE, STRUCTURE, TECHNOLOGY and the EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT in organization operates. When people join together in an organization to accomplish an objective some kind of structure is required. People also use technology to help get then job done. So there is an interaction of People, Structure and Technology as shown in figure below. In addition these elements are influenced by External environment and they influence it.

PEOPLE

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

STRUCTURE TECHNOLOGY

PEOPLE: People make up the internal social system of the organization. They consist of individuals and groups and large groups as well as small ones. There are unofficial informal groups and more official and formal groups. Groups are dynamic. They form change and disband. The human organizations today is not the same as it was before. People are living, thinking, feeling beings who created the organization. It exists to achieve their objective. Organization exists to serve people. People do not exist to serve organizations.

STRUCTURE: Structure defines the official relationship of people in organization. Different jobs are required to accomplish all of an organization’s activities. There are managers and employees who have to be related in some structural way so that their work can be effective. The main structure is related to power and duties. For example, one person has authority to make decisions that affect the work of other people.

TECHNOLOGY: Technology provides the physical and economic sources with which people work. They cannot accomplish much with their bare hands, so they build buildings, design machines, create work process and assemble resources. The technology that results has significant influence as working relationships. An assembly line is not the same as a research laboratory. The great benefit of technology is that it allows people to do more and better work, but it also restricts people in various ways, it has COSTS as well as benefits.

ENVIRONMENT: All organizations operate within an external environment. A single organization does not exist alone. It is a part of a larger system that contains thousands of other elements. All these mutually influence each other in a complex system that becomes the life style of the people. The environment influences the attitudes of people, affects working conditions and provides competitions for resources and power. Hence, this assumes an important role in the study of Human Behavior in organization.

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HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF OB

Though human relationships are known to exist since the beginning of mankind its systematic study as art and science and trying to deal with them in complex organizations is relatively new. The industrial revolution brought about surplus of goods and wages, shorter hours and more satisfaction. Robert Owen, a young Welsh factory owner (about 1800) was one of the first to emphasis human needs of employees. Andrew Ure (1835) added the human dimension into his “The Philosophy of Manufacturers”, however the development of OB is reckoned with the “Early Development” during which the interest in people at work was awakened by Fredrick W Taylor in the United States in the early 1900’s. he is often called as “the Father of Scientific Management” and the changes he brought about to management paved the way for later development of organizational behavior. His work eventually led to improved recognition and productivity for industrial workers. During this era the goal was technical efficiency, but management was awakened to the importance of one of its neglected resources. Whiting Williams (1920) published a significant interpretation of his experience with workers, in his work “What’s in the Worker’s Mind”.

In 1920’s and 1930’s Elton Mayo and F.J.Rocthlisberger at Harward University gave academic stature to the study of Human Behavior at work. They applied keen insight, straight thinking and the sociological backgrounds to industrial experiments at western Electric Company, Hawthorne plant. The result was the concept that an organization is a social system and the workers indeed the most important element in it. Their experiments showed that the worker is not a simple tool but a complex personality interacting in a group situation the often is difficult to understand. To Taylor and his contemporaries, human problem stood in the way of production and so should be removed. To Mayo, human problems became a broad new field of study and an opportunity for progress Taylor increased production by rationalizing it while Mayo and his followers sought to increase production by humanizing it. The Mayo – Rocthlisberger research was substantial about human behavior at work and its influence was widespread.

The support of business and academic leaders led to a surge of interest in human relations. By the 1950 the subject had became so popular to the following reason:

1. There was a cultural lag in understanding the human side of organizations so that huge emphasis was needed to catch up with progress in engineering, production, sales and finance Management saw this imbalance and worked to improve the situation.

2. A large amount of research followed the work of Mayo and Rocthlisberger, giving managers new knowledge for building more effective organizations.

3. Social forces brought increasing pressures for improving human climate in organizations labour unions gained strength and pressed for better working environment. Minority groups insisted upon a better climate for their members. Workers were also better educated and expected an improved, more human quality of leadership in organizations. Generally there was a change in social attitudes of that required more social responsibility in organizations in dealing with all types of people including their employees.

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4. The working environment itself became more complex, requiring more attention from management to make it operate effectively, increasing organization size added to the complexity of work. Increasing specialization contributed to the complexity of work. The employees became less able to understand and appreciable the whole product or service that they helped produce.

A powerful for maturity in organizational behavior was Douglas Mc Gregor’s Theory X and Theory Y first published in 1957. These two theories clearly distinguished traditional automatic assumptions about people (Theory X) and more behaviorally based assumptions about people. The usefulness of Mc Gregor theories is his convincing argument that most management actions flow directly from whatever theory of human behavior manager’s hold. Mc Gregor pointed out Theory X was the set of assumptions held by most managers at that time. Even though they did not explicitly made their assumptions, they implicitly held them, because the kinds of actions they took came from Theory X.

THEORY – X THEORY – Y

The typical person dislikes work and will avoid it if possible.

o Work is as natural as play or rest.

The typical person lacks responsibility, has little ambition and seeks security above all

o People are not inherently lazy. They have become that way as a result of experience.

Most people must be coerced, controlled and threatened with punishment to get them to work.

o People will exercise self-direction and self control in the service of objectives to which they are committed.

o People have potential under proper conditions they learn to accept and seek responsibility. They have imagination, ingenuity and creativity that can be applied to work.

With these assumptions the managerial role is to Coerce and Control Employees.

With these assumptions the managerial role is to develop the potential in employees and help them release that potential towards common objectives.

Theory – X implies an autocratic approach to managing which assumes that most people dislike work and will try to avoid it if possible. They engage in various work restrictions because they are lazy and indolent (disliked). They have little ambition and avoid responsibility if at all possible. They are self centered, indifferent to organizational needs, and resistant to change. The common rewards given by organizations are not enough to overcome their dislike for work, so the only way that management can secure high employee performance is to coerce, control and threaten them.

Theory – Y implies a humanistic and supportive approach to managing people. It assumes that people are not lazy and indolent. Any appearance they have of being that way is the result of their experiences with organizations, but if management will provide proper environment to

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release their potential work will become as natural to them as play or rest. They will exercise self-direction and self control in the service of objectives to which they are committed. Management’s role is to provide an environment in which the potential of people can be released at work.

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HAWTHORNE EXPERIMENTS / STUDIES

The Human Relationists also known as Neo-classicists like Weber, Taylor, and Fayol propounded the classical theory which emphasizes that “Organization is a social system and the human factor is the most important factor within it. Thus, they investigated informal groupings, informal relationships, patterns of communication, patterns of informal leadership etc. in their studies known as Hawthorne Experiments.

In 1927, a group of researchers led by Elton Mayo and F.J.Roethlisberger at the Harvard Business School were invited to join these experiments at the Hawthorne Works of Western Electric Company, Chicago. These experiments consisted of:

1. Illumination Experiments2. Relay Room Experiments3. Bank Wiring Expeimrnts

Illumination Experiments: This experiment was conducted to establish relationship between output and illumination. The output tended to increase every time as the intensity of light was improved. But the output remained to show an upward trend when the illumination was brought down gradually and even below the normal level. Thus, it was found that there is no consistent relationship between output of workers and illumination in the factory. There were some other factors which influenced the productivity of workers when the intensity of light was altered.

Relay Room Experiments: In these experiments, a small homogeneous work group was constituted. Several new elements like shorter working hours, rest pauses, improved physical working conditions, friendly and informal supervision, free social interaction among group members were introduced into the work atmosphere. Productivity and morale increased considerably during the period of experiment and was found to be sustaining even after these facilities were withdrawn. Therefore the researchers concluded that socio-psychological factors such as feeling of being important, recognition, attention, participation, cohesive work group, and non-directive supervision held the key to higher productivity.

Bank Wiring Room Experiments: This experiment was conducted to study a group of workers under conditions which were as close as possible to normal. This group comprised of 14 workers. After the experiment, the production records were compared with their earlier records and it was found that there were no significant changes in the two because of maintenance of “normal conditions”. However existence of informal cliques in the group and informal production norms were observed by the researchers.

The results of the bank wiring room study were essentially opposite to those of relay room experiments. In the bank wiring room there were not the continual increases in productivity that occurred in the relay in the relay room. Rather, the output was restricted by the bank wirers. By motion study the industrial engineers had arrived at a standard of 7312 terminal connections per day. This represented 2.5 equipments. The workers had a different brand of rationality. They decided that 2 equipment were a “proper” day’s work. Thus 2.5 equipment

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represented the management norm for production, but 2 equipment was the informal group norm and the actual output. The researchers determined that the informal group norm represented the restriction of output rather than a lack of ability to produce. The group pressures had a tremendous impact on all the workers. Social ostracism was more effective in gaining compliance with the informal group norm than money and security were in attaining the scientifically derived management norm.

Implications of Hawthorne Studies: The Hawthorne studies did provide some interesting insights that contributed to a better understanding of human behavior in organizations. In a follow up study it was found that the workers preferred to work in test room rather than a usual production shop because of the following reasons:

Small group Type of supervision Earnings Novelty of the situation Interest in the experiment Attention received in the test room.

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2. PERSONALITY

One of the individual attributes of behavior is PERSONALITY. The term personality is used to represent the overall profile or combination of characteristics that capture the unique nature of a person as that person reacts and interacts with others. For example: a FORTUNE article reported that “AMERICA’S Toughest Bosses” were “steady super demanding, unrelenting, sometimes abusive, sometimes unreasonable, impatient, driven stubborn and combative.

Personality combines a set of physical and mental characteristics that reflect how a person looks, thinks, acts and feels. Understanding personality contributes to an understanding OB by adding a consideration of what individuals are like to that of what they can do and what they will do. That is, we expect there to be a predictable interplay between an individual’s personality and his or her tendency to behave in certain ways. A common expectation for example is that introverts don’t tend to be sociable. Sometimes, attempts are made to measure personality with questionnaires or special tests. Frequently personality can be implied by behavior alone such as by the actions of the toughest bosses. Either way, personality is an important individual attributes for managers to understand. Personality Determinants and Development:

A very important question is looking at personality is just what determines it. Personality inherited, or genetically determined are personality attributes determined by experience. We commonly hear sentences such as “She acts like her mother” or “ He is the way he is because of the ay he was raised” such arguments illustrate the nature/nurture controversy i.e., is personality determined by heredity or genetic endowment or by one’s environment? Figure below shows that these three forces actually operate in combination.

Heredity and Environmental linkage with Personality

Heredity consists of these factors that are determined at conceptions and includes physical characteristics and gender, in addition to personality factors. Environment consists of Cultural, Social and Situational Factors.

Cultural values and norms play a substantial role in the development of an individual’s personality and behaviors. Social factors reflect such things as family life, religion and the many kinds of formal and informal groups in which people participate through out their lives.

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HEREDITY Environment: Cultural Factors, Social Factors, and Situation

Factors

PERSONALITY SITUATION

Representative of these are friendship groups and athletic groups as well as formal work groups. Finally, Situational factors can influence personality. One example involves self-esteem and self-efficacy, which we agree shortly help shape the overall direction of a person’s personality. Such situational factors as the opportunity to assume increasingly challenging goals and the opportunity to come back from failure can help build esteem and self-efficacy.

There has been and continues to be considerable debate concerning the impact of heredity on personality. Perhaps the most general conclusions we can draw is that heredity sets the limits on just how much personality characteristics can be developed. Environment determines development with in these limits. These limits appear to vary from one characteristic to the next. However, across all the characteristics studied the average proportion is about 50 – 50 split between heredity and environment.

A third factor, the situation factor further influences the effect of heredity and environment on personality. An individual’s personality while generally stable and consistent does change in different situations. Different demands in different situations call forth different aspects of ones personality. It is because of this that it is not very appropriate to look at personality in isolation.

While it seems only logical to suppose that situations will influence an individual’s personality, a next classification scheme that would tell as the impact of various types of situations has so far eluded us. “Apparently we are not yet close to developing a system for classifying situations so that they might be systematically studied”. However, we do know that certain situations are more relevant than others in influencing personality.

Personality traits: The early works in the structure of personality revolved around attempts to identify and label enduring characteristics that describe an individual’s behavior. Popular characteristics include shy, aggressive, submissive, lazy, ambitious, loyal or timid. These characteristics, when they are exhibited in a large number of situations are called “Traits”. The more consistent the characteristic and the more frequently it occurs in diverse situations, the more important that traits is in describing the individual. Efforts to isolate traits have been virtually impossible because of their large number (17953) and predicting behavior with such large number is still more difficult. However, these have reduced to a more manageable number, in order to ascertain the primary traits.

One research isolated 171 traits but concluded that they were superficial and lacking in descriptive power. He sought a reduced set of traits that would identify underlying patterns and identified sixteen personality factors, which he called primary traits. These included the following:

These sixteen traits have been found to be generally steady and

1. Reserved Outgoing2. Less intelligent More intelligent3. Affected by feeling Emotionally stable4. Submissive Dominant5. Serious Happy go lucky6. Expedient Conscientious7. Timid Venturesome8. Tough minded Sensitive8. Trusting Suspicious10. Practical Imaginative11. Forthright Shrewd12. Self assured Apprehensive13. Conservative Experimenting14. Group dependent Self sufficient15. Uncontrolled Controlled16. Released Tense

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constant sources of behavior allowing prediction of an individual’s behavior in specific situations by weighing the characteristics for their situational relevance.

Traits can additionally be grouped to form personality types. Instead of looking at specific characteristics, we can group these qualities that go together into a single category. For example ambitious and aggression tend to be highly correlated. Efforts to reduce the number of traits into common groups tend to isolate introversion – extroversion and something appropriating high anxiety – low anxiety as the underlying interconnecting characteristics. These dimensions suggest from personality types. For example an individual with high anxiety and extroversion would be tense, excitable, unstable, warm, sociable and dependent.

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FOUR TYPE THESIS:

HIGH ANXIETY LOW ANXIETY

EXTROVERT

INTROVERT

It is not advisable to put a lot of weight on personality traits as explanatory devices or predictions of employee behavior across a broad spectrum of situations. This is because traits ignore situational contexts. They are not contingency oriented and therefore, largely ignore the dynamic interchange that occurs in an individual’s personality as a result of interaction with his or her environment. As a result personality traits tend to be most valuable only with individual’s who hold a trait at its extreme. We might be able to predict some common behavior among extreme extroverts or individual’s who are highly anxious put since a majority of people are in the vast middle range on most trait characteristics, personality traits must be considered in their situational context.

PercentOf Population Vast middle

Range where traits are unsuccessful

Extreme where Extreme where Traits are predictive Traits are

predictive

Trait category

Tense, Excitable, Unstable, Warm, Sociable and Dependent

Composed, Confidant, Trustful, Adaptable, Warm, Sociable and Dependent

Tense, Excitable, Unstable, Cold and Shy

Composed, Confidant, Trustful, Adaptable, Calm, Cold and Shy

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Major Personality Attribute Influencing OB

A number of specific personality attributes have been isolated as having potential for predicting behavior in organizations. The first of these is related to where one perceives the Locus of Control of ones life. The others are Achievement orientation, Authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, Self-Esteem, Self-Monitoring and propensity for Risk taking.

1. Locus of Control: Some people believe that they are masters of their own fate. Other people see themselves as pawns of fate, believing that what happens to them in their lives is due to luck or chance. The first type; those who believe that they control their destinies, have been labeled “Internals”, where as the latter, who see their as being controlled by outside forces have been called “Externals”. Research indicates that individual’s who rate high in externality are less satisfied with their jobs, have higher absenteeism rates, and more alienated from the work setting and are less involved in their jobs than are internals.

2. Achievement Orientation: We know that internals are motivated to achieve. This achievement orientation has also been singled out as a personality characteristic that varies among employees and that can be used to predict certain behavior. Research has centered around the need to achieve (nArchs) people with a high need to achieve can be desired as continually striving to do things better. They want to overcome obstacles, but they want to feel that their success (or failure) is due to their own actions. This means they like tasks of intermediate difficulty. If a task is very easy it will lack challenge. High achievers receive no feeling of accomplishment from doing tasks that fail to challenge their abilities. Similarly, they avoid tasks that are so difficult that the probability of success is low. They normally look for jobs with approximately 50 – 50 chance of success. In jobs that provide intermediate difficulty, rapid performance feedback and allow the employee individual will perform well.

3. Authoritarianism: There is evidence that there is much a thing as an Authoritarian personality, but its relevance to job behavior is more speculations that fact. It refers to a belief that there should be shown be status and power differences among people in organizations. The extremely high authoritarian personality is intellectually rigid, judgment of others, deferential to those above and exploitative of those below, distrustful and resistant to change. It seems reasonable to postulate that possessing a high authoritarian personality would be related negatively to performance where the job demanded sensitivity to feelings of others, tact and the ability to adapt to complex and changing situations. On the other hand, where jobs are highly structured and success depends in close conformance to rules and regulations, a high authoritarian employee should perform well.

4. Machiavellianism: Closely related to Authoritarianism is the characteristic of Machiavellianism (Mach), named after Nicholas Machiavelli who wrote on how to gain and manipulate power. An individual high on Machiavellianism is pragmatic, maintains emotional distance and believes that ends can justify means. “ If it works, use it” is consistent with a large Mach perspective. Whether high-mach’s make good employees depends on the type of job and whether you consider ethical implications in evaluating performance. In jobs that require bargaining skills, or where there are substantial rewards for winning, high-mach’s will be productive. But if ends can’t

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justify the means, if there are absolute standards of behavior or if the situational factors (1. When they interact face to face with others. 2. When the situation has minimum number of rules and regulations and 3. Where emotional involvement with details irrelevant to winning distracts low mach’s) are not in evidence, our ability to predict high mach performance will be severely curtailed.

5. Self Esteem: People differ in the degree to which they like or dislike themselves. This trait is called Self Esteem. Research on self-esteem has revealed that it is directly related to expectations for success. High SE’s believe that they possess more of the ability they need in order to succeed at work. Individuals with high SE’s will take more risks in job selections and are more likely to choose unconventional job.

The most generalized finding on SE is that how SE’s are more susceptible to external influence than are high SE’s. In managerial positions low SE’s will tend to be concerned with pleasing others and therefore less likely to take unpopular stands than are high SE’s. Self-esteem has also been found to be related to job satisfactions. A number of studies confirmed that high Self esteemed are more satisfied with their job than low Self esteems.

6. Self-Monitoring: Another personality trait that has recently received increased attention is called ‘Self Monitoring’ which refers to an individual’s ability to adjust his or her behavior to external situational factors. Individual’s high in SM can show considerable adaptability in adjusting their behavior to external situational factors. They are highly sensitive to external cues and behave differently in different situations. High SM’s are capable of presenting striking contradiction between their public persona and private selves. Low SM’s can’t deviate their behavior. They tend to display their true disposition and attitudes in every situation. Hence, there is a high behavioral consistency between who they are and what they do.

Preliminary evidence from the research on SM which s still at its infancy, suggests that high SM’s tend to pay closer attentions to the behavior of others and are more capable of conforming than are low SM’s. We can hypothesize that high SM will be more successful in managerial positions.

7. Risk Taking: People differ in their willingness to take chances. This propensity to assume or avoid risk has been shown to have an impact on how long it takes managers to make a decision and how much information they require before making their choice while it is generally correct to conclude that managers in organizations are risk aversive, there are still individual differences on this dimension. Hence, it makes sense to recognize these differences and even to consider aligning risk-talking propensity with specific job demands.

Matching Personality and Jobs: In the discussions of personality attributes, one conclusion were often qualified to recognize that the requirements of the job moderated the relationship between possessions of the personality characteristic and job performance. This concerned with matching the job requirements with personality characteristics has recently received increased attention. It is less anticipated in John Holland’s personality job fit theory, which is based on the notion of fit between a person’s interest and his or her occupational environment.

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Holland presents six personality types and proposes that satisfaction and the propensity to leave a job depends on the degree to which individual’s successfully match their personalities with a congruent occupational environment. Each one of the personality types has a matching occupational environment as shown below.

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PERSONALITY TYPES OCCUPATIONS1 Realistic – involves aggressive behavior,

physical activities requiring skill, strength and coordination.

Forestry, Farming.

2 Investigative – involves activities requiring thinking, organizing and understanding rather than feeling or emotion.

Biology, Mathematics, News reporting.

3 Social – involves interpersonal rather than intellectual or physical activities.

Foreign Service, Social work, Clinical psychology.

4 Conventional – involves rule regulation activities and sublimations of personal needs to an organization or person of power and status

Accounting, Finance, Corporate Managers.

5 Enterprising – involves verbal activities to influence others to attain power and status.

Law, Public relations, Small business Management.

6 Artistic – involves self-expressions, Artistic creation or Emotional activities.

Art, Music, Writing.

This theory argues that satisfaction is highest and turnover lowest where personality and occupation are in agreement. The key points of this model are that:

1. There do appear to be intrinsic differences in personality among individuals.2. There are different types of jobs with varying demands.3. People in job environment congruent with their personality types should be more

satisfied and less likely to voluntarily resign than should people in congruent jobs.

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3. PERCEPTION

Perception is the process of how we select, organize, interpret and retrieve information’s from the environment. Perceptions are not necessarily the same as reality, nor are the perceptions of describing the same event.

Through perceptions people process information inputs into decisions and actions. Perception is a way of forming impressions about oneself, other and daily life experiences. It is also a screen or filter through which information passes before having an effect on people. The quality or accuracy of a person’s perceptions, therefore has a major impact on quality of the decision made or actions taken in a given situation. People respond to situations in terms of their perceptions and the perceptions are long standing perceptual responses also can vary from one person to the next in a work situation.

Factors influencing the Perceptual Process: A number of factors contribute to perceptual difference and the perceptual process among people. These are summarized in the figure below, which include.

Figure: Multiple influences on the perceptual process. Why different people may see the same situations differentlyThe Perceiver: A persons needs or motives, past experience, values, attitudes and personality may all influence the perceptual process. A person with a strong achievement need will tend to perceive a situation in terms of the need. For example, if one sees doing well in class as way to help meet his/her achievement need, he/she will tend to emphasize this aspect when considering various options. In the same manner, a person with a negative attitude towards

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THE PERCIEVERNeeds or Motivates Experience, Values, Attitudes, Personality

THE SETTINGPhysical, Social Organization

THE PERCIEVEDContracts, Intensity, Size, Motion, Repetition, Novelty.

THE PERCEPTUAL PROCESS

Attention Organization Interpretation Retrieval

Casual Attribution

Schemes/Scripts

DISTORTIONStereotype/Prototype, Halo effect, Selective perception, Projection, Expectancy.

union may look for antagonisms even during routine visits by local union officials to the organization. Thus, personal factors will influence the various aspects of the perceptual process.

The Perceived: Such characteristics of the perceived as contrast, intensity, size, motion and repetition and novelty are also important in the perceptual process. For example, contrasting colors, intensity an vary in terms of brightness, color, depth, sound and the like, very small or very big will tend to be perceived differently and more readily than will average sized people, moving objects will stand from those not moving and the frequency of an advertisement can influence one’s perception of it.

The Setting: The Physical, Social and Organizational content of the perceptual process. For example, hearing a subordinate call his or her boss by a first name may be perceived quite differently when observed in an office hallway as opposed to at an evening social reception.

The Process itself: Keeping in mind the factors and characteristics listed above we can now try to understand the perceptual process explained by the figure. We are constantly bombarded with myriad (indefinite aspects/elements) stimulate and information in the perceptual process. The process itself consists of four stages: information attention or selection, Organization of Information, Interpretations of Information and Retrieval of information from our memory.

a. Attention and Selection: Our senses are constantly bombarded with so much information that if we didn’t filter it we would become incapacitated with information overload. Selective filtering lets in only tiny proportion of all of the information available. Some of the selectivity comes from controlled processing. Consciously deciding what information to pay attention to and what to ignore. In this case the perceiver are aware that they are processing information.

Screening can also tale place without the perceiver conscious awareness. For example, one may drive a car without consciously thinking about the process of driving but instead about a problem he/she has at his/her workplace/ home etc. In driving the car he/she were to be affected by information from the world around him/her such as traffic lights and other cars, he/she wouldn’t pay deliberate attention to that information. Such selectivity of attention works well most of the time. When one drives, but if a non-routine event occurs one may have an accident unless he/she quickly shifts to controlled processing.

b. Organization: Even though selective filtering takes place in the attention stage, it is still necessary to find ways to organize the information efficiently. “Schemas”, which are cognitive frame works that represent organized knowledge about a given concept or stimulus developed through experience, help us do this. A “Self Schema” contains information about a person’s own behavior, appearance and personality. For example, a person with decisiveness schema will tend to perceive himself or herself in terms of that aspect in many circumstances, especially those calling for leadership. “Person Schema” refers to the way individuals sort others into categories such as types or groups in terms of similar perceived features. The term “Prototype” or “Stereotype” is often used to represent these categories. It is an abstract set of features commonly associated with member of that category. Once the prototype is formed, it is stored in

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long-term memory and then retrieved when it is needed to compare how well a person matches the prototypes features.

A “Script Schema” is defined as a knowledge framework that describes the appropriate sequence of events in a given situation. For example, an experienced manger would use a script scheme to call forth the appropriate steps involved in running a meeting. Finally, “Person in Situation Schemas” combines schemas built around persons and events. Thus, a manger might organize his or her perceived information in a meeting around a decisiveness schema for both himself and a key player in the meeting.

c. Interpretation: Once your attention has draws to certain stimuli and you have grouped or organized this information, you try to answer why you have done so. Even if you perceive the same information and organize it the same way as does your friend you might still interpret it’s meaning differently. The interpretation stage is strongly influenced by casual attribution – an attempt to explain why something happened the way it did. [Casual Attribution is an important part of the Attribution Theory].

Common Perceptual Distortions: Some common kinds of distortions can make the perceptual process inaccurate. These are:

a. Stereotype/Prototype: Stereotype/Prototype are the two useful ways of categorizing information in order to deal with information overload. These cause inaccuracies in receiving information.

Stereotypes obscure individual differences. They can prevent mangers from getting to know people as individuals and form accurately assessing their needs, preferences and abilities. Both managers and employees need to be sensitive to stereo an increasingly diverse workforce can be a true competitive advantage.

b. Halo effect: A Halo effect occurs when one attribute of a person or situation is used to develop an overall impression of the individual or situation. Like stereotypes these distortions are particularly likely to occur in the organization stage of perception.

Halo effects are important in the performance appraisal process since they can influence a mangers evaluation of subordinates’ work performance. For example, people with good attendance records tend to be viewed as intelligent and responsible, those with poor attendance records are considered poor performance. Such conclusions may or may not be valid.

c. Selective Perception: Selective perception is the tendency to single out those aspects of a situation person or object that are consistent with ones needs values or attributes. It has its stronger impact in the attention stage of the perceptual process. This leads to different viewpoint, which would certainly affect the way in which people approach a problem. This may also affect teamwork.

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d. Projection: this is the assignment of ones personal attribute to other individuals. It is especially likely to occur in the interpretation stage of perception. A classic projection error is exemplified by the manager who assumes that the needs of his/her subordinates are the same as his/her own. By projecting one’s needs on the subordinates, individual differences are lost. Projection can be controlled through a high degree of self-awareness and by empathy – the ability to view situations as others see it.

e. Expectancy: Expectancy is the tendency to create or find in another situation or individuals that which you expected to find in the first place. This is referred to as “Pygmalion effect”. [Pygmalion was a mythical Greek sculptor who created a statue of his ideal make and then made her come to life]. Through expectancy, we may also create in the work situations that which we expect to find. Expectancy can have both positive and negative results

The Attribution Theory: Attribution Theory is the study of hoe people attempt to:

1) Understand the causes of a certain event.2) Assess responsibility for the outcomes of the events.3) Evaluate the personal qualities of the people involved in the event.

Essentially, in applying attribution theory, we try to determine whether one’s behavior was internally or externally caused. Internal causes are believed to be under an individual’s control. External causes are seen as outside a person. This theory suggests that three factors influence this internal or external determination. These are distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency. Distinctiveness considers how consistent a person’s behavior is across different situations. In terms of Consensus, we are concerned with how likely all those facing a similar situation are to respond in the same way. In terms of Consistency, we are concerned with whether an individual responds the same way across time. In addition to these three factors, there are two errors that have an impact. These are the ‘Fundamental Attribution Error’ and the ‘Self Sensing bias’.

Fundamental Attribution Error is the tendency to underestimate the influence of situational factors and overestimate the influence of personal factors in evaluating someone else’s behavior. Self-serving bias is the tendency to deny personal responsibility for performance problems but to accept responsibility for performance success.

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Thus,

We Perceive

Others traitsand dispositions

As a cause of their failure

FundamentalAttribution

Error.Factors externalto others

As a causeof their success

We Perceive

Our own traitsand dispositions

As a cause of our failure

Self-serving Bias.

Factors externalto us.

As a cause of our success

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4. ATTITUDES

Attitudes constitute an important psychological attributes of individuals, which shape their behavior. Some behavior psychologists have defined Attitude as a predisposition to respond in a positive or negative way to someone or something in one’s achievement in one’s environment. When a person says that he likes or dislikes something, an attitude is being expressed.

An Attitude may be defined as the way a person feel about something – a person, a place, a commodity, a situation or an idea. It expresses an individuals positive or negative feelings about some object and describes thoughts and predisposition to act towards some object in the environment.

Attitude may be regarded as varying in several ways:

a) Direction – For or Against Something.b) Degree – defines favorableness. To be natural in attitude is to be indifferent to the

object.c) Intensity – degree of confidence.

Attitude may also vary in the degree in which the object of the attitude is common to a number of people or unique to particular individuals.

An Attitude may unconsciously held. Most of out attitudes may be those about which we are not clearly aware. Prejudice furnishes a good example. A person can simultaneously hold inconsistent attitudes towards the same object or at least towards aspects which are not clearly discriminated from one another.

Components of Attitudes:

1. Cognitive or Informational component: It consists of beliefs and values, ideas and other information a person has about the attitude object. For example, a person seeking a job may learn newspapers and other people that a particular company is a good pay master.

2. Affective or Emotional component: It involves the person’s feelings of likes and dislikes towards the attitude object.

3. Behavioral component: The tendency of a person to behave in a particular manner towards the attitude object is the behavioral component of an attitude.

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Thus all these could be illustrated as follows:

Components of attitudes:

These components show that an attitude can be considered as a way of thinking, feeling and behaving. For example, if some one has favorable thoughts about his supervisor at the job, he would develop feelings of consideration and respect for him and, as a result, may like to associate more frequently with him.

Features of attitudes:

a. Attitudes affect behavior: People have the natural tendency to maintain consistency between two attitudes or attitude and behavior. Attitude can lead to intended behavior if there is no external intervention.

b. Attitudes are invisible: Attitude constitutes a psychological phenomenon, which cannot be directly observed. However, we may observe an attitude indirectly through observing its consequences. For example, if a person is highly productive, we may infer that he has a positive attitude towards his work.

c. Attitudes are acquired: Attitudes are gradually learnt over a period of time. The process of learning attitudes starts right from childhood and continues throughout life. However, in the beginning, the family members have a greater impact on the attitudes of a child. For example, if the family members have a positive attitude towards business and a negative attitude towards service, there is great likelihood that the child will inculcate similar attitudes towards these objects.

d. Attitudes are pervasive: Attitudes are formed in the process of socialization and may relate to anything in the world. For example, a person may have positive or negative attitudes towards religion, politics, politicians, countries and so on. At our place of

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INFORMATIONAL

Ideas, beliefs and values,

EMOTIONALFeelings of likes and dislikes, positive and negative

BEHAVIORALTendency to behave

ATTITUDES

ATTITUDE OBJECT

work, we have attitudes towards work, superiors, peers, subordinates, clients, government and its policies, investors and so on. Thus, there is an end Len list of attitude objects.

SOURCES OF ATTITUDES: The central idea running through the process of attitude formation is that the thoughts, feeling, and tendencies to behave are acquired or learned gradually. But how does one learn? The attitudes are required from the following sources.

a) Direct Personal Experience: The quality of a person’s direct experience with the attitude object determines his attitude towards it. For example, if a worker finds his work repetitive, inadequately paid, supervision too tough and co-workers not so co operative, he would develop a negative attitude towards his job because the quality of his direct experience with the job is negative.

b) Association: A new attitude object may be associated with an old attitude object and the attitude toward the latter may be transferred towards the former. For example, if a newly recruited worker remains most of the time in the company of a worker towards whom the supervisor has a favorable attitude, the supervisor is likely to develop a positive attitude towards the new worker also. Hence the favorable attitude for the old worker has been transferred towards the new worker.

c) Social Learning: Attitudes are also learnt from others as for example, from parents, teachers, superiors, models etc. An individual may learn by having contact with others or even watching models over the TV. Infact, social learning makes it possible for a person to develop attitude towards something even when he has no direct experience of the attitude object. For example, an unemployed person entering the job market for the first time may be favorably disposed towards a government job because others in the society have such an attitude towards the government jobs. Thus, the social learning is a convenient way of developing attitudes.

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Direct Personal Experience

ATTITUDES

ASSOCIATION Social Learning

Formation of Attitudes: The development of attitudes is dependent upon the following factors:

a) Psychological factors: The psychological make up of a person is made up of his perceptions, ideas, beliefs, values, information etc. It has a crucial role in determining a person’s attitudes. For example, if a person perceives that generally all superiors are exploitative, he is likely to develop a negative attitude towards his superior who in fact may not be exploitive.

b) Family factors: During childhood, a person spends a major part of his time in the family. Thus he learns from the family members who provide him with ready made attitudes on a variety of issues such as education, work, health, religion, politics, economics etc. Every family instills or attempts to instill such attitude among its members as are considered appropriate to its socio economic status in the society. In the later years of life, however, any person we admire, respect or fear may have greater influence on our attitudes.

c) Social factors: Societies differ in terms of language, culture, norms, values, beliefs, etc. all of which influences a person’s attitudes. For example, Indians and Americans differ in their attitudes towards religion. Thus, people belonging to a nation develop attitudes, which would be in tune with the needs of the society.

d) Organizational factors: It should be remembered that a worker spends a major part of his life in the institution in which he works. Thus, organizational factors such as nature of job, factory or office layout, fellow workers, quality of supervision, monetary rewards associated with the job, trade unionism, informal groups, organizational policies and practices play an important role in shaping the job attitudes of a person.

e) Economic factors: A person’s attitude towards a loss of issues such as pleasure, work, marriage, working women, etc is influenced by economic factors such as his economic status in society, rate of inflation in the economy, government economic policies and the country’s economic condition.

f) Political factors: Politics play a crucial role in the administration of country. Therefore, political factors such as ideologies of the political parties, political stability and the behavior of political leaders greatly affect the attitude of people.

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5.MOTIVATION

Today, virtually all people – practitioners and schools have their own definitions of Motivation. Usually one or more of the following words are included in the definition: Desires, Wants, Wishes, Aims, Goals, Needs, Drives, Motives and Incentives. Technically, the term “Motivation” can be traced to the Latin word “Movere” which means, “to move”.

Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that activates behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive. Thus, the key to understanding the process of motivation lies in the meaning of and relationship between needs, drives and incentives.

Figure above depicts the motivation process Needs set up Drives aimed at Incentives. In a systems sense, motivation consists of these three Interacting and Interdependent elements.

1. Needs: Needs are created whenever there is a physiological or psychological imbalance. For example, a need exists when cells in the body are deprived of food and water or when the personality is deprived of other people who serve as friends.

2. Drives: With a few exceptions, drives or motives are set up to alleviate (to make more bearable) needs. A psychological drive can be simply defined as a deficiency with direction. Physiological and psychological drives are actions oriented and provide an energizing thrust towards reaching an Incentive. They are at the very heart of the motivational process.

3. Incentives: At the ends of the motivation cycle is the incentive defined as anything that will alleviate a need to reduce a drive. Thus attaining an incentive will tend to restore physiological or psychological balance and will reduce or cut off the drive.

Primary Motives: Psychologists do not totally agree on how to classify the various human motives, out they would acknowledge that some motives are unlearned and physiologically based. Such motives are variously called Physiological, Biological, Unlearned, or Primary . The last term is used because it is more comprehensive than the others. The use of the term “Primary” does not imply that this group of motives always takes precedence over the general and secondary motives. Although the precedence of primary is implied in some motivation theories, there are many situations in which general and secondary motives predominate over primary motives. Common examples are celibacy among priests and fasting for a religious,

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NEEDS DRIVES INCENTIVES

social or political cause. In both the cases, learned secondary motives are stronger than unlearned primary motives.

Two criteria must be met in order for a motive to be included in the primary classification. It must be unlearned and it must be physiologically based. Thus defined, the most commonly recognized primary motive includes hunger, thirst, sleep, and avoidance of pain, sex, and maternal concern. Because people have the same physiological make up, they will have essentially the same primary needs.

General Motives: A separate classification for general motives is not usually given. Yet such a category seems necessary because there are a number of motives, which lie in the gray area between primary and secondary classifications. To be included in the general category, a motive must be unlearned but not physiologically based. While the primary needs seek to reduce the tension or stimulation then general needs induce the person to increase the amount of stimulation. Thus, these needs are sometimes called “Stimulus Motives”. Although not all psychologists would agree, the motives of curiosity, manipulation, activity and affection seem best to meet the criteria for this classification. An understanding of these general motives is important for the study of Human Behavior especially in organizations. General motives are more relevant to organizational behavior than are primary motives.

Secondary Motives: Where as the general drives seem relatively more important than the primary ones to the study of human behavior in organizations, the secondary drives are unquestionably the most important. As a human society develops economically and becomes more complex, the primary drives and to a lesser degree, the general drives give way to learned secondary drives in motivating behavior. With some grazing exceptions that have yet to be eradicated, the motives of hunger and thirst are not dominant among people living in economically developed countries. This situation is obviously subject to change; for example the population bomb or the green house effect may alter certain human needs. But for now, the learned secondary motives dominate.

Secondary motives are closely tied to learning concepts. In particular, the learning principle of reinforcement is conceptually and practically related to motivation. The relationship is obvious when reinforcement is divided into primary and secondary categories and is portrayed as incentives. Some discussions regard reinforcement as simply a consequences sensing to increase the motivation to perform the behavior again. It should be emphasized that in reality concepts like reinforcement and motivation do not operate as separate entities in producing human behavior. The interactive effects are always present.

A motive must be learned in order to be included in the secondary classification. Numerous important human motives meet this criterion. Some of the more important ones are Power, achievement and Affiliation. In addition, especially in reference to OB, security and status are important secondary motives. These are shown below.

1. Need for Achievement: Doing better than competitors. Attaining or surpassing a different goal. Solving a complex problem. Carrying out a challenging assignment successfully. Developing a better way to do something.

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2. Need for Power: Influencing people to change their attitudes or behavior. Controlling people and activities. Being in a position of authority over others. Gaining control over information and resources. Defeating an opponent or enemy.

3. Need for Affiliation: Being liked by many people. Being accepted as a part of a group or team. Working with people who are friendly and cooperative. Maintaining harmonious relationships and avoiding conflicts. Participating in pleasant social activities.

4. Need for Security: Having a security job. Being protected against loss of income or economic disaster. Having protection against illness and disability. Being protected against physical harm or hazardous conditions. Avoiding tasks or decisions with a risk of failure and blame.

5. Need for Status: Having the right car and wearing the right clothes. Working for the right company in the right job. Having a degree from the right university. Living in the right neighborhood and belonging to the country club. Having executive privileges.

Work – Motivation Approaches: in order to understand organizational behavior the basic motives must be recognized and studied. However, these serve as only background and foundation for the more directly relevant work motivation approaches. Figure below graphically summarizes the various theoretical streams for work motivation.

The contents of work motivation attempts to determine what is it that motivates people at work. The content theorists are concerned with identifying the needs/drives that people have how these needs/drives are prioritized. They are concerned with the type of incentives or goals that people strive to attain in order to be satisfied and perform well. The content theories are referred as “Static” because they incorporate only one or a few points in time and are either past or present tine oriented. Therefore they do not necessarily predict work motivation or behavior, but are still important to understanding what motivates people at work.

At first, money was felt to be the only incentive (scientific management), and then a little later it was felt that incentives include working conditions, security, and perhaps a democratic style of supervision (human relations). More recently the content of motivation has been deemed to be the so called “Higher Level” needs or motives, such as esteem and self actualization (MASLOW); responsibility, recognition, achievement and advertisement (Herzberg); and growth and personal development (Alderfer). A thorough study of the major content theories contributes to understanding and leads to some of the application techniques of motivation.

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1900

Present

Scientific Management(Wage Incentives)

Human Relations(Economic security/Working condition)

Lewin and Tolman(Expectancy concern)

MASLOW(Hierarchy of needs)

VROOM(Valance/expectancy)

HERZ BERG(Motivation and Hygiene factor)

PORTER & LAWLER(Performance satisfaction)

ALDERFER(ERG needs)

LAWLER(E to P and P to O expectancies)

CONTENT THEORIESCONTEMPRORY

THEORIESPROCESS THEORIES

WORK MOTIVATION

THE CONTENT THEORIES OF WORK MOTIVATION

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS: Abraham Maslow outlined the elements of a theory of motivation. He thought that a person’s motivational needs could be arranged in a hierarchical manner. In essence, be believed that once a given level of need is satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate. The next higher level of need has to be activated in order to motivate the individual. Maslow identified five levels in his need hierarchy as shown below.

1. Physiological Needs: The most basic level in the hierarchy, the physiological needs, generally corresponds to the unlearned primary needs discussed earlier. The needs of hunger, thirst, sleep, and sex are some examples. According to the theory, once these basic needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate.

2. Safety Needs: The second level of needs is roughly equivalent to the security needs Maslow stressed emotional as well as physical safety. The whole organism may become a safety seeking mechanism. Yet, as is true of the physiological needs, once these safety needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate.

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Figure: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

3. Love Needs: This third or intermediate, level of needs loosely correspond to affection and affiliation needs. Perhaps a more appropriate word describing this level would be “Belongingness” or “Social”.

4. Esteem Needs: The esteem level represents the higher needs of human. The needs for power, achievement, and status can be considered part of this level. Maslow carefully pointed out that the esteem level contains both self esteem and esteem from others.

5. Needs for Self – Actualization: This level represents the culmination of all the lower, intermediate and higher needs of humans. People who have become self-actualized are self fulfilled and have realized all this potential. Self – Actualization is closely related to the self – concept. In effect, self-actualization is the person’s motivation to transform perception of self into reality.

Maslow did not intend that his need hierarchy be directly applied to work motivation. It was Douglas Mc Gregor who popularized the Maslow theory in management literature. The need hierarchy has had a tremendous impact on the modern management approach to motivation. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory can be converted into the, content model of work motivation. If Maslow’s estimates are applied to an organization example, the lower level needs of personnel would be generally satisfied (85% of the basic needs and 70% of the security needs), but only 50% of social needs, 40% of esteem needs and a mere 10% of self actualization needs would be met.

Most research findings indicate that Maslow’s is not the final answer in work motivation. Yet the theory does make a significant contribution in terms of making management aware of the diverse needs of employees at work.

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SELF ACTUALIZATION(Personal growth realization of

potential)ESTEEM NEEDS

(Titles, status symbols, promotion banquets)

LOVE NEEDS(Formal and Informal work groups)

SAFETY NEEDS(Seniority plans, union, health, employee assistance plans, severance pay pension)

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS(Basic satisfied through pay)

HERZBERG’S TWO – FACTOR THEORY OF MOTIVATION:

Herzberg extended the work of Maslow and developed a specific content theory of work motivation. In this study on 200 professional subjects he asked two questions viz.,

(1) When did you feel particularly good about your job – what turned you on?(2) When did you feel exceptionally bad about your job – what turned you off?

Responses obtained from this critical incident method were interesting and fairly consistent. Reported good feelings were generally associated with job experiences and job content. Reported bad feelings, on the other hand, were generally associated with the surroundings or peripheral aspects of the job – the job context. Tabulating these reported good and bad feelings; Herzberg concluded that job satisfiers are related to job content and that job dissatisfiers are allied to job context. Herzberg labeled the satisfiers “motivators” and he called dissatisfiers “Hygiene Factors”. The term “Hygiene” refers to factors that are preventive. In Herzberg’s theory the hygiene factors are those that prevent dissatisfaction. Taken together, the motivation and hygiene factors have become known as Herzberg’s two-factor theory of Motivation. This is as shown in figure below:

HYGIENE FACTORS MOTIVATORS

Company policy and Administration Achievement

Supervision, Technical Recognitions

Salary Work itself

Interpersonal relations, Supervisor Responsibility

Working Conditions Advancement

Figure: Herzberg’s two – factor Model

The hygiene factors are preventive and environmental in nature and they are roughly equivalent to Maslow’s lower level needs. These hygiene factors prevent dissatisfaction, but they do not lead to satisfaction. In effect, they bring motivation upto a theoretical zero level and are a necessary “Floor” to prevent dissatisfaction, and they serve as a take off point for motivation. By themselves, the hygiene factors do not motivate, only the motivation, motivate employees on the job. According to Herzberg’s theory, an individual must have a job with a challenging content in order to be timely motivated.

Herzberg was the first to say that the hygiene factors are absolutely necessary to maintain the human resources of an organization. However, as in the Maslow’s sense, once “the belly is full” of hygiene factors, which is the case in most modern organizations, dangling a cannot any more in front of employees will not motivate them. According to Herzberg’s theory, only a challenging job, which has the opportunities for achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth will motivate people.

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In spite of the obvious limitations, few would question that Herzberg has contributed substantially to the study of work motivation. He extended Maslow’s need hierarchy concept and made it more applicable to work motivation. Herzberg also drew attention to the importance of job content factors in work motivation, which previously had been badly neglected and often totally overlooked. The job enrichment is also one of the Herzberg’s contributions.

ALDERFER’S ERG THEORY:

An extension of the Herzberg and, especially, the Maslow’s content theories of work motivation comes from the work of Clayton Alderfer. He formulated a need category model that was more in line with existing empirical evidence. Like Maslow and Herzberg, he does feel that there is value in categorizing needs and that there is a basic distinction between lower order and higher order needs.

Alderfer identified three groups of core needs: EXISTENCE, RELATEDNESS and GROWTH (hence ERG theory). The existence needs are concerned with survival (physiological well being). The relatedness needs stress the importance of interpersonal social relationships. The growth needs are concerned with the individual’s intrinsic desire for personal development. Figure below shows how these groups of needs are related to the Maslow and Herzberg categories. Obviously they are very close, but the ERG needs does not have strict lines of demarcation.

Alderfer is suggesting more of a continuum of needs than hierarchical level is two factors of prepotency needs. Unlike Maslow and Herzberg he does not contend that a lower level need is motivating or that deprivation is the only way to activate a need. For example, under ERG theory the person’s background or cultural environment may dictate that the relatedness needs will take precedence over unfulfilled existence needs and that the more the growth needs are satisfied, the more they will increase in intensity, most contemporary analysis of work motivation tend to support, Alderfer’s theory over Maslow’s and Herzberg’s. Overall, ERG theory seems to take some of the strong points of earlier content theories, but is less restrictive and limiting.

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ALDERFER’S ERG THEORY

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS

HERZBERG’S TWO FACTOR

GROWTH SELF ACTUALIZATION

ESTEEM: SELF, OTHERS

LOVE

SAFETY

PHYSIOLOGICAL

MOTIVATORSRELATEDNESS

EXISTENCE HYGIENE FACTORS

Figure: Relationship between Alderfer’s ERG needs, Maslow’s five level Hierarchy and Herzberg’s two – factor theory.

THE PROCESS THEORIES OF WORK MOTIVATION:

The content models attempt to identify what motivates people at work. The process theories, on the other hand, are more concerned with the cognitive antecedents that go into work motivation or effort and more important, with the way they relate to one another.

First level Outcomes

Figure: Vroom’s Expectancy or VIE theory of Work Motivation

.As figure above shows the expectancy notion from cognitive theory makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the complete processes involved in work motivation

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Expectancy

Motivational ForceF = ∑ valence x expectancy

Outcome 1

Outcome 2

Instrumentalities

Outcome1a

Outcome1b

Outcome2a

Outcome2b

Outcome2c

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation:

The Expectancy theory of work motivation has its roots in cognitive concepts of pioneering psychologists Kurt Levin and Edward Jolman as shown in figure above. However, the first to formulate an expectancy theory directly aimed at work motivation was Victor Vroom. Contrary to most critics, Vroom proposed his expectancy theory as an alternative to content models which he felt were inadequate explanations of the complex process of work motivation. The figure above summarizes the Vroom model. As shown, the model is built around the concepts of valence, instrumentality and expectancy and is commonly called the VIE theory.

By ‘Valence’, Vroom means the strength of an individual’s preference for a particular outcome. Other terms that might be used include value, incentive, attitude and expected utility. In order for the valence to be positive, the person must prefer attaining the outcome to not attaining it. A valence of zero occurs when the individual’s indifferent towards the outcome; the valence is negative, individual prefers not attaining the outcome to attaining it. Another major input into the valence is instrumentality of the first – level outcome in obtaining a desired second – level outcome. For example, a person would be motivated toward superior performance because of the desire to be promoted. The superior performance (first – level outcome) is seen as being instrumental in obtaining a promotion (second – level outcome).

Another major variable is Vroom motivational process is expectancy, although psychological theorists all agree that expectancies are mental, or cognitive, states, there is little agreement about the nature of these states. Expectancy relates efforts to first level outcomes, while instrumentality relates first level outcomes and second level outcomes. In other words, expectancy in Vroom’s theory is the probability (ranging from 0 – 1) that a particular action or effort will lead to a particular first level outcome. Instrumentality refers to the degree to which a first – level outcome will lead to a desired second – level outcome. In summary a certain act will depend on the algebraic sum of the products of the Valences for the outcomes multiplied by the expectancies.

Probably the major reason Vroom’s model has emerged as an important modern theory of work motivation and has generated so much research is that it does not take a simplistic approach. The content theories oversimplify human motivation. Yet these remain extremely popular with practicing managers because the concepts are easy to appreciate and to apply to their own situations. On the other hand VIE theory recognize the complexities of work motivation, but is relatively difficult to understand and apply. Thus, from a theoretical stand point, the VIE model seems to help managers appreciate the complexities of motivation, but it does not give them much practical help in solving their motivational problem.

THE PORTER – LAWLER MODEL: There is a lot of controversy over the relationship between satisfaction and performance that has existed the human relationship movement. The content theories implicitly assume that satisfaction leads to improved performance and dissatisfaction detracts from performance. The Herzberg model is really a theory of job satisfaction, but still it does not deal with the relationship between satisfaction and performance. Although satisfactions make an input into Vroom’s concept of valence and although the outcomes have performance implications, it was Vroom’s model that the

34

relationship between satisfaction and performance was dealt with directly by a motivation model.

Porter and Lawler start with the premise that motivation (effort or force) does not equal satisfaction or performance. Motivation satisfaction and performance are assumed. Figure below depicts the multivariable model used to explain the complex relationship that exists between Motivation, Performance and Satisfaction.

Figure: Porter and Lawler Model

As shown in the model above, boxes 1, 2 & 3 are basically the same as vroom equation. It is important, however, that porter and Lawler point out that effort (force or motivation) does not lead directly to performance. The rewards that follows and how these are perceived will determine satisfaction, in other words, Porter – Lawler model suggest, this is a significant turn of events from traditional thinking – that perform leads to satisfaction.

This model has had a fair degree of research support over the years. For example, a recent field study found that effort level and directions of efforts are important in explaining individual performance in an organization. Also a comprehensive review of research verifies the importance of rewards in the relationship between performance and satisfaction. Specifically will be more strongly related when rewards are made contingent upon performance than when they are not.

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Value of reward

(1)

Abilities and Traits

(4)

Perceived Equitable rewards

Satisfaction

Intrinsic rewards

Extrinsic Rewards

Performance (Accomplishment)

Effort (3)

Perceived effort – reward

probability

Role perceptions

(5)

Contributions to Work Motivation: The Porter and Lawler model has definitely made a significant contribution to the better understanding of work motivation and the relationship between performance and satisfaction. But, to date, it has not had much impact on the actual practice of human resources management. Yet the expectancy models provide certain guidelines that can be followed by human resources management. For example, on the front end (the relationship between motivation and performance) it has been suggested that the following barriers must be overcome:

(1) Doubts about ability, skill or knowledge.(2) The physical or practical possibility of the job.(3) The interdependent of the job with other people/activities.(4) Ambiguity surrounding the job requirements.

In addition on the backend (relationship between performance and satisfaction) guidelines such as the following have been suggested:

(1) Determine what rewards each employee values.(2) Define desired performance.(3) Make desired performance attainable.(4) Link valued rewards to performance.

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF WORK MOTIVATION:

Festinger and HomusCOGNITIVE DISSONANCE/EXCHANGE

Heider, de chermer and bowCOGNITIVE EVALUATION/SELF

PERCEPTION

AdamsEQUITY

Kelley and RotterATTRIBUTION/LOCUS OF CONTROL

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES

WORK MOTIVATION

Although it is recognized that work motivation theories are generally categorized into content and process approaches, equity and attribution theories have emerged in the recent years and command most of the research attention.

EQUITY THEORY: This theory has been around just as long as expectancy theories of work motivation, but has received widespread attention only in the recent time. As shown in the figure its roots can be tracked back COGNTIVE DISSONANCE THEORY and EXCHAGE THEORY. As a theory of work motivation, credit for equity theory is usually

36

given to social psychologist J. Stacy Adams, who argues that a major input into job performance and satisfaction is the degree of equity (or inequity) that people perceive in their work situation. It is another cognitively based motivation theory and Adam depicts how this motivation occurs.

Inequity occurs when a person perceives that the ratio of his or her outcomes to inputs and the ratio of a relevant others’ outcomes to inputs are unequal. Schematically, this is represented as follows:

Person’s outcomes other’s outcome <Person’s inputs other’s inputs

Person’s outcomes other’s outcome >Person’s inputs other’s inputs

Equity occurs when

Person’s outcomes other’s outcome =Person’s inputs other’s inputs

Both the inputs and the outputs of person and other are based upon the person’s perception. Age, sex, education, social status, organizational position, qualification and how hard the person works are examples of perceived input variables. Outcomes consist primarily of rewards such as pay, status, promotion, and intrinsic interest in the job. In essence, the ratio is based upon the person’s perception of what the person is giving (inputs) and receiving (outputs) versus the ratio of what the relevant others is giving and receiving. This cognition may or may not be the sane as some one else’s observation of the ratios or the same as the actual situation.

If the person’s perceived ratio is not equal to the others, he or she will strive to restore the ratio to equity. This “Striving” to restore the equity is used as the explanation of work motivation. The strength of the motivation is in direct proportion to the perceived equity that exists. Adams suggests that such motivation may be expressed in several forms. To resolve equity, the person may alter the inputs or outcomes, cognitively distort the inputs or outcomes, leave the field, act on the other, or change the other.

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6. GROUP DYNAMICS

A Group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent, who come together to achieve particular objectives. Groups can be either formal or informal. By formal, we mean defined by the organization’s structure, with designated work assignments establishing tasks and work groups. In formal groups, the behaviors that one should engage in are stipulated by and directed towards organizational goals. The three members making up an airline flight crew are an example of a formal group. In contrast, informal groups are alliances that are neither formally structured nor organizationally determined. These groups are natural formations in the work environment, which appear in response to the need for social contact. It is possible to sub-classify groups further as command, task, interest, or friendship groups. Command and task groups are dictated by the formal organization, whereas interest and friendship groups are informal alliances. A Command Group is determined by the organization chart. It is composed of the subordinates who report directly to a given manager. An elementary school principal and her twelve teachers from a command group, as do the director of postal audits and his five inspectors Task Groups, also organizationally determined, represent those working together to complete a job task. However, a task group’s boundaries are not limited to it’s immediate hierarchical superior. It can cross command relationships. Fore instance, if a college student is accused of a campus crime, it may require communication and co-ordination among the Dean of Academic affairs, the Dean of Students, the Register, the Director of Security, and the student’s advisor. Such a formation would constitute a task group. It should be noted that all command groups are also task groups, but because task groups can cut across the organization, the reverse need not be true. People who may or may not be aligned into common command or task groups may affiliate to attain a specific objective with which each is concerned. This is an Interest Group. Employees who band together to have their vacation schedule altered, to support a peer who has been fired, or to seek increased fringe benefits represent the formation of a united body to further their common interest. Groups often develop because the individual members have one or more common characteristics. We call these formations Friendship Groups. Social, allegiances, which frequently extend outside the work situation, can be based on similar age, support for “Big Red” Nebraska football, having attended the same college, or the holding of similar political views, to name just a few such characteristics. Informal groups provide a very important service by satisfying their member’s social needs. Because of interactions that result from the close proximity of workstations or task interactions, we find workers playing golf together, riding to and from work together, lunching together, and spending their breaks around the water cooler together. We must recognize that these types of interactions among individuals, even though informal, deeply affect their behavior and performance. There is no single reason why individuals join groups. Since most people belong to number of groups, it is obvious that different groups provide different benefits to their members. The most popular reasons for joining a group are related to our needs for security, status, self-esteem affiliation, power and goal achievement.

SECURITY : ‘There‘s strength in number”. By joining a group, we can reduce the insecurity of

“standing alone”-we feel stronger, have fewer self-doubts, and are more resistant to threats. New employees are particularly vulnerable to a sense of isolation, and turn to the group for guidance and support. However, whether we are talking about new employees or those with

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years on the job, we can state that few individuals like to alone. We get reassurance from interacting with others and being part of a group. This often explains the appeal of unions-if management creates an environment in which employs feel insecure; they are likely to turn to unionization to reduce their feelings of insecurity.

STATUS “I’m a member of our company’s running team. Last month, at the National Corporate Relays, we won the national championship. Didn’t you see our picture in the company’s newsletter?” these comments demonstrate the roll that a group can play in giving prestige. Inclusion in a group viewed as important by others provide recognition and status for its members.

SELF-ESTEEM “Before I was asked to pledge Phi Omega Chi, I felt like nobody. Being in a fraternity makes me feel much more important”. This quote demonstrates that groups can provide people feelings of self worth. That is, in addition to conveying status to those outside the group, membership can also give increased feelings of worth to the group members themselves. Our self-esteem is bolstered, for example, when we are accepted by a highly valued group. Being assigned to a task force whose purpose is to review and make recommendation for the location of the company’s new corporate head quarters can fulfill ones needs for competence and growths, as well as for status.

AFFILIATION “I’m independently wealthy, but I wouldn’t give up my job. Why? Because I really like the people I work with!” This quote, from a $45,000- a-year purchasing agent who inherited several million dollars’ worth of real estate, verifies that groups can fulfill our social needs. People enjoy the regular interaction that comes with group memberships. For many people, these on –the-job interaction are their primary source of fulfilling their needs for affiliation. For almost all people, work groups significantly contribute to fulfilling their needs for friendship and social relations.

POWER Informal groups additionally provide opportunities for individuals to exercise power over others. For individuals who desire to influence others, groups can offer power without a formal position of authority in the organization. As a group leader, you may be able to make requests of group members and obtain compliance without any of the responsibilities that traditionally go with formal managerial positions. So, for people with a high power need, groups can be a vehicle for fulfillment. GOAL ACHIEVEMENT There are many times when it takes more than one person to accomplish a particular task-there is a need to pool talents, knowledge or power in order to get a job completed. In such instances, management will rely on the use of the formal group.

STAGES OF GROUP DEVELOPMENTGroup development is a dynamic process. Most groups are in a continual state of change. But just because groups probably never reach complete stability doesn’t mean that there isn’t some general pattern that describes how most groups evolve. There is strong evidence that groups pass through a standard sequence of five stages, these five stages have been labeled forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning.

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The first stage, forming, is characterized by a great deal of uncertainty about the group’s purpose, structure and leadership. Members are “testing the waters” to determine what types of behavior are acceptable. This stage is complete when members have begun to think of themselves as part of the group. The storming stage is one of intra-group conflict. Members accept the existence of the group, but there is resistance to the control that the group imposes on individuality. Further, there is conflict over who will control the group. When this stage is complete, there will be a relatively clear hierarchy of leadership within the group. The third stage is one in which close relationship develop and the group demonstrates cohesiveness. There is now a strong sense of group identity and camaraderie. The norming stage is complete when the group solidifies and the group has assimilated a common set of expectations of what defines correct member behavior. The fourth stage is performing. The structure at this point is fully functional and accepted. Group energy has moved from getting to know and understand each other to performing the task at hand. For permanent work groups, performing is the least stage in their development. However, for temporary committees, task forces, teams and similar groups that have a limited task to perform, there is an adjourning stage. In this stage, the group prepares for its disbandment. High task performance is no longer the group’s top priority. Instead, attention is directed towards wrapping-up activities. Responses of group members vary in stages. Some are upbeat, basking in group’s accomplishments. Others may be depressed over the loss of camaraderie and friendships gained during the work group’s life. EXTERNAL CONDITIONS IMPOSED ON A GROUPOrganization strategy The strategy that an organization is pursuing, at any given time, will influence the power of various work groups which, in turn, will determine the resources that the organization’s top management is willing to allocate to it for performing its task.

Authority structures Organizations have authority structures that define who reports to whom, who makes decisions, and what decision individual or groups are empowered to make. This structure typically determines where a given work group is placed in the organization hierarchy, the formal leader of the group, and formal relationships between the groups.

Formal regulations Organizations create rules, procedures, policies and other forms of regulations to standardize employee behavior. The more formal regulations that the organization imposes on all its employees, the more the behavior of work group members will be consistent and predictable.

Organizational resources The presence or absence of resources such as money, time, raw materials and equipment –which are allocated to the group by the organization –have large bearing on the group’s behavior.

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Personnel selection process Members of work group are, first, members of the organization of which the group is a part. So the criteria that an organization uses in its selection process will determine the kinds of people that will be in its work group.

Performance evaluation and reward system Another organization- wide variable that affects all employees is the performance evaluation and reward system. Since work groups are part of a larger organizational system, group member’s behavior will be influenced by how the organization evaluates performance and what behaviors are rewarded.

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Organization culture Every organization has an unwritten culture that defines for employees’ standards of acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Members of work groups have to accept the standards implied in the organization’s dominant culture if they are to remain in good standing.

Physical Work Settings Physical work setting that is imposed on group by external parties has an important bearing on work group behavior. A group’s potential level of performance is, to a large extent, dependent on the resources that its members individually bring to the group. In this section, we want to look at two resources that have received the greatest amount of attention: abilities and personality characteristics.

Abilities Part of a group’s performance can be predicted by assessing the task-relevant and intellectual abilities of its individual members. First, Evidences indicates that individuals who hold crucial abilities for attaining the group’s task tend to be more involved in group activities, generally contribute more, and more likely to emerge as the group leaders, and more satisfied if their talents are effectively utilized by the group. Second, intellectual ability and task relevant ability have both been found to be related to overall group performance. However, the correlation is not particularly high, suggesting that other factors, such as the size of the group, type of task being performed, the actions of its leader, and level of conflict within the group, also influence the performance.

Personality characteristics There has been a great deal of research on the relationship between personality traits and group attitude and behavior. The general conclusion is that attributes that tend to have a positive connotation in our culture tend to be positively related to group productivity, morale, and cohesiveness. These include traits such as sociability, self-reliance and independence. In contrast, negatively evaluated characteristics such as authoritarianism, dominance, and unconventionality tend to be negatively related to dependent variables. Work groups are not unorganized mobs. They have a structure that shapes the behavior of the members and makes it possible to explain and predict a large portion of individual behavior within the group as well as the performance of the group itself.

Formal leadership Almost every group has a formal leader. He or she is typically identified by titles such as unit or department manager, supervisor, foreman, project leader, task force head, committee chair, or the like.

Roles All group members are actor playing a role. By this term, we mean a set of expected behavior patterns attributed to someone occupying given position in a social unit. The understanding of role behavior would be dramatically simplified if each of us choices one role and “played it out” regularly and consistently. Unfortunately, we are required to play a number of diverse roles, both on and off our job.

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Role identity: There are certain attitudes and actual behavior consistent with a role, and they create role identity. People have the ability to shift roles rapidly when they recognize the situation and its demands clearly require major changes. When the situation is more vague and the role people are to play is less clear, they often revert to old role identity.

Role perception: One’s view of how one supposed to act in a given situation is role perception.

Role expectations: Role expectations are defined, as how others believe you should act in a given situation how you behave is determined to a large extent by the role defined in the context in which you are acting. In the workplace, it can be helpful to look at the topic of role expectations through the perspective of the psychological contract. There is an unwritten agreement that exists between employees and their employer. This psychological contract sets out mutual expectations- what management expects from workers, vice versa. In effect, this contract defines the behavioral expectations that go with every role. Management is expected to treat employees justly, provide acceptable working conditions, clearly communicate what is a fair day’s work, and give feedback on how well the employee is doing.

Role conflicts: When an individual is confronted by divergent role expectations, the result is role conflict. It exists when an individual finds that compliance with one role requirement may make more difficult the compliance with another. At the extreme it would include situations in which two or more role expectations are mutually contradictory.

NORMS

All groups have established norms; that is, acceptable standards of behavior that are shared by group’s members. Norms tell members what they ought or ought not to do under certain circumstances. From an individual’s standpoint, they tell what is expected of you in certain situations. When agreed to and accepted by the group, norms act as a means of influencing the behavior of group members with a minimum of external controls. Norms differ among groups, communities and societies, but all have them. Formalized norms are written up in organizational manuals, setting out rules and procedures for employees to follow. By far, the majority of norms in organization are informal. The norms that the group established included a number of “don’ts”. Don’t be rate-buster, turning out too much work. How did the group enforce these norms? Their methods were neither gentle nor subtle. The included sarcasm, name-calling, ridicule and even physical punches to the upper arm of members who violated the group’s norms. Members would also ostracize individuals whose behavior was against the group’s interest.

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Common classes of norms A work group’s norms are like an individual’s fingerprints- each is unique. Yet there are still some common classes of norms that appear in most work group. Probably the most widespread norms deal with performance- related process. Work groups typically provide their members with explicit cues on how hard they should work, how to get the job done, their level of output, appropriate communication channels, and the like. These norms are extremely powerful in affecting an individual employee’s performance- they are capable of significantly modifying a performance prediction that was based solely on the employee’s ability and level of personal motivation. A second category of norms encompasses appearance factor. This includes things like appropriate dress, loyalty to the work group or organization, when to look busy, and when it’s acceptable to goof of. Some organizations have formal dress codes. However, even in absence, norms frequently develop to dictate the kind of clothing that should be worn to work. Presenting the appearance of loyalty is important in many work groups and organizations. Another class of norms concerns informal social arrangements. These norms come from informal work groups and primarily regulate social interactions within the group. With whom group members eat lunch, friendships on and off the job, social games and the like are influenced by these norms. A final category of norms relates to allocation of resources. These norms can originate in the group or in the organization and cover things like pay, assignment of jobs and allocation of new tools and equipment. In some organizations, for example, new personal computers are distributed equally to all groups. The “How” and “Why” of norms: norms typically develop gradually as group members learn what behaviors are necessary for the group to function effectively. Of course, critical events in the group might short-circuit the process and act quickly to solidify new norms. The norms that the group will enforce tend to be those that are important to it. But what makes a norm important?

(1) If it facilitates the group’s survival. Group’s don’t like to fail, so they look to enforce those norms that increase their chances for success.

(2) If it increases the predictability of the group member’s behavior. Norms that increase predictability enable group members to anticipate each other’s action and to prepare appropriate responses.

(3) If it reduces embarrassing interpersonal problems of group members. Norms are important if they ensure the satisfaction of their members and prevent as much as interpersonal discomfort as possible.

(4) If it allows members to express the central values of the group and clarify what is distinctive about the group’s identity to help to solidify and maintain the group.

Conformity: As a member of the group, you desire acceptance by the group. Because of your desire for acceptance, you are susceptible to conforming to the group’s norms. There is considerable evidence that groups can place strong pressure on individual members to change their attitudes and behaviors to conform to the group’s standard. Do individuals conform to the pressures of all the groups they belong to? Obviously not, because people belong to many groups and their norms vary. In some cases, they may even have contradictory norms. So what do people do? They conform to important groups to which they belong or hope to belong. The important groups have been referred to as reference groups and are characterized as ones where the person is aware of others, the person defines himself or herself as a member, or would like to be a member, and the person feels that the group members are significant to him or her. The implication, then, is that all groups do not impose equal conformity pressures on their members.

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Size: Does the size of a group affect the group’s overall behavior? The answer to this question is a definite “yes”, but the effect depends on what dependent variable you look at. The evidence indicates, for instance, that smaller groups are faster at completing tasks than are larger ones. However, if the group is engaged in problem solving, large groups consistently get better marks than their smaller counterparts. Translating these results into specific numbers is a bit more hazardous, but we can offer some parameters. Large groups- with a dozen or more members – are good for gaining diverse input. So, if the goal of the group is fact-finding, larger groups should be more effective. On the other hand, smaller groups are better at doing something productive with that input. Groups approximately seven members, therefore, tend to be more effective for taking action. One of the most important finding related to the size of a group has been labeled social loafing. It directly challenges the logic that the productivity of the group as a whole should at least equal the sum of productivity of each individual in that group. The research on group size also leads us to two additional conclusions:

(1) Groups with an odd number of members tend to be preferred over those with an even number, and

(2) Groups made up of five or seven members do a pretty good job of extracting the best elements of both small and large groups.

The preference of an odd number of members eliminates the possibility of ties when votes are taken. Groups made up of five or seven members are large enough to form a majority and allow for diverse input yet avoid the negative outcomes often associated with large groups, such as domination by a few members, development of subgroups, inhibited participation by some members, and excessive time taken to reach a decision.

Composition: Most group activities require a variety of skills and knowledge. Given this requirement, it would be reasonable to conclude that heterogeneous groups- those composed of dissimilar individuals- would be more effective. Research studies substantiate this conclusion. When a group is heterogeneous in terms of personalities, opinions, abilities, skills, and perspectives, there is an increased probability that the group will posses the needed characteristics to complete its task effectively. The group may be more conflict- laden and less expedient as diverse positions are introduced and assimilated, but the evidence generally supports the conclusion that heterogeneous groups perform more effectively than do those that are homogeneous. A more specific offshoot of the composition issue has recently received a great deal of attention by group researchers. This is the degree to which members of a group share a common demographic attribute such as age, sex, race, educational level, or length of service in the organization and the impact of these attributes on turnover. Groups and organizations are composed of cohorts, which we define as individuals who hold a common attribute. The implication of this line of inquiry is that the composition of a group may be an important predictor of turnover. Difference, per se, may not predict turnover. But large differences in similarity within a single group will lead to turnover. If everyone is moderately dissimilar from everyone else in the group, the feelings of being an outsider are reduced.

Group processes: The next component in our group behavior model considers the processes that go on within the work group- the communication patterns used by members for information exchanges, group decision processes, leader behavior, power dynamics, conflict interactions, and the like.

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Synergy is a term used in biology that refers to an action of two or more substances that results in an effect that is different from the individual summation of the substances. We can use the concept to better understand group process. Social loafing, for instance, represents negative synergy. The whole is less than the sum of the parts. Research teams, on the other hand, are often used in research laboratories, because they can pull on the diverse skills of various individuals to produce more meaningful research as a group than could be generated by each of the researchers working independently. That is, they produce positive synergy. Their process gains exceed their process losses.

Determinants of CohesivenessTime spent together: If you rarely get an opportunity to see or interact with other people, you are unlikely to be attracted to them. The amount of time that people spend together, therefore, influences cohesiveness.Severity of Initiation: The more difficult it is to get into a group, the more cohesive that group becomes. The hazing through which fraternities typically put their pledges is meant to screen out those who don’t want “pay the price:” and to intensify the desire of those who do to become fraternity actives.Group size: If group cohesiveness tends to increase with the time members are able to spend together, it seems logical that cohesiveness should decrease as group size increases, since it becomes more difficult for a member to interact with all the members.External threats: Most of the research supports the proposition that a group’s cohesiveness will increase if the group comes under attack from external sources. Management threats frequently bring together an otherwise disarrayed union. Previous successes: If a group has a history of previous successes, it builds an esprit de corps that attracts and unites members. Successful firms find it easier to attract and hire new employees. The same holds true for successful research groups, well known and prestigious universities, and winning athletic teams.

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GROUP DECISION-MAKING Advantages of groupsIndividual and group decisions each have their own set of strengths. Neither is ideal for all situations. The following identifies the major advantages that groups offer over individuals in the making of decisions:

1. More complete information and knowledge. By aggregating the resources of several individuals, we bring more input into the decision process.

2. Increased diversity of views. In addition to more input, groups can bring heterogeneity to the decision process. This opens up the opportunity for more approaches and alternatives to be considered.

3. Increased acceptance of a solution: Many decisions fail after the final choice has been made because people do not accept the solution. However, if people who will be affected by a decision and who will be instrumental in implementing it are able to participate in the decision itself, they will be more likely to accept it and encourage others to accept it. This translates into more support for the decision and higher satisfaction among those required to implement it.

4. Increased legitimacy: Our society values democratic methods. The group decision making process is consistent with democratic ideals and therefore, may be perceived as being more legitimate than fails to consult with others before making a decision, the decision maker’s complete power can create the perception that the decision was made autocratically and arbitrarily.

Disadvantages of Groups1. Time Consuming: It takes time to assemble a group. The interaction that takes place once

the group is in place is frequently inefficient. The result is that groups take more time to reach a solution than would be the case if an individual were making the decision. This can limit management’s ability to act quickly and decisively when necessary.

2. Pressure to conform: There are social pressures in groups. The desire by group members to be accepted and considered as an asset to the group can result in squashing any overt disagreement, thus encouraging conformity among viewpoints.

3. Domination by the few: Group discussion can be dominated by one or a few members. If dominant coalition is also composed of low- and medium ability members, the group’s overall effectiveness will suffer.

4. Ambiguous responsibility: group members share responsibility’ but who is actually accountable for the final outcome? In an individual decision, it is clear who is responsible. In group decision, the responsibility of any single member is watered down.

GROUPTHINK AND GROUPSHIFT

Two by-products of group decision-making have received a considerable amount of attention by researchers in OB. As we’ll show, these two phenomena have potential to affect the group’s ability to appraise alternatives objectively and arrive at quality decision solutions. The first phenomenon, called Groupthink, is related to norms it describes situations in which group pressure for conformity deter the group from critically appraising unusual, minority, or unpopular views. Groupthink is a disease that attacks many groups and can dramatically hinder their performance.

The phenomenon we shall review is called Groupshift. It indicates that in discussing a given set of alternatives and arriving at a solution, group members tend to exaggerate the initial position that they held. In some situations, caution dominates, and there is a conservative shift.

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More often, however, the evidence indicates that groups tend towards a risky shift. Let’s look at each of these phenomena in more detail.Groupthink: During a faculty meeting, a motion was placed on the floor stipulating each faculty member’s responsibilities in regard to counseling students. The motion received a second, and the floor was opened for questions. There were none. After about fifteen seconds of silence, the chairperson asked if he could “call for the question” (fancy terminology for permission to take vote). No objections were voiced. When the chair asked for those in favor, a vast majority of the thirty-two faculty members in attendance raised their hands. The motion was passed, and the chair proceeded to the next item on the agenda.

Groupthink phenomenon:1. Group members rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they have made. No matter

how strongly the evidence may contradict their basic assumption, members behave so as to reinforce those assumptions continually.

2. Members apply direct pressures on those who momentarily express doubts about any of the group’s shared views or who question the validity of arguments supporting the alternative favored by the majority.

3. Those members who have doubts or hold differing points of views seek to avoid deviating from what appears to be group consensus by keeping silent about misgivings and even minimizing to themselves the importance of their doubts.

4. There appears to be an illusion of unanimity. If someone does not speak, it is assumed that he or she is in full accord. In other words, abstention becomes viewed as a “yes” vote

.Groupshift: In comparing group decisions of members within the group, evidence suggests that there are differences. In some cases, group decisions are more conservative than the individual decisions. More often, the shift is toward greater risk. What appears to happen in groups is that the discussion leads to a significant shift in positions of embers towards a more extreme position in the direction towards which they were already learning before the discussion. So conservative types become more cautious and more aggressive types take on more risk. The group discussion tends to exaggerate the initial position of the group.

The group shift can be viewed as actually a special case of groupthink. The decision of the group reflects the dominant decision-making norm that develops during the group’s discussion. Whether the shift in the group’s decision is toward greater caution or more risk depends on the dominant pre-discussion norm. GROUP DECISION-MAKING TECHNIQUES The most common form of group decision-making takes in face-to- face interacting groups. But as our discussion of groupthink demonstrated, interacting groups often censor themselves and pressure individual members toward conformity of opinion. Brainstorming, nominal group and Delphi techniques have been proposed as ways to reduce many of the problems inherent in the traditional interacting group. We’ll discuss each in the section

Brainstorming: Brainstorming is meant to overcome pressures for conformity in interacting group that retard the development of creative alternatives. In typical brainstorming session, a half dozen to a dozen people sit around a table. The group leader states the problem in a clear manner so that it is understood by all participants. Members then “free wheel” as many alternatives as they can in a given length of time. No criticism is allowed, and all the alternatives are recorded for later discussion and analysis. That one idea

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stimulates others and that judgment of even the most bizarre suggestions are withheld until later encourages group members to “think the unusual”.Brainstorming, however, is merely a process for generating ideas. The next two techniques go further by offering techniques for actually arriving at a preferred solution.

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Nominal Group Technique: The nominal group technique restricts discussion or interpersonal communication during the decision-making process; hence, the term nominal. Group members are all physically present, as in a traditional committee meeting, but members operate independently. Specifically, a problem is presented and then the following steps take place:1. Members meet as a group but, before any discussion takes place, each member is

independently writes down his or her ideas on the problem.2. This silent period is followed by each member presenting one idea to the group. Each member

takes his or her turn, going around the table, presenting a single idea until all ideas have been presented and recorded (typically on a flip chart or chalkboard). No discussion takes place until all ideas have been recorded.

3. The group now discuses the ideas for clarity and evaluates them.4. Each group member silently and independently rank orders the ideas. The final decision is

determined by the ideas with the highest aggregate ranking.The chief advantage of the nominal group techniques is that it permits the group to meet

formally but does not restrict independent thinking as does the interacting group.

Delphi Technique: a more complex and time-consuming alternative is the Delphi Technique. It is similar to the nominal group technique expert that it does not require the physical presence of the group’s members. In fact, the Delphi Technique never allows the group members to meet face to face. The following steps characterize the Delphi technique:

1. The problems are identified and members are asked to provide potential solutions through a series of carefully designed questionnaires.

2. Each member anonymously and independently completes the first questionnaire.3. Results of first questionnaire are compiled at a central location, transcribed and reproduced.4. Each member receives a copy of results.5. After viewing the results, members are again asked for their solutions. The results typically

trigger new solutions or cause changes in the original position.6. Step 4 and 5 are repeated as often as necessary until consensus is reached.

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7. LEARNING

Definitions:

A psychologist’s definition of learning is:“ Any relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of

experience”.

Obviously the foregoing definition suggests that we shall never see someone “learning”. We can see changes but not the learning itself. The concept is theoretical and hence not directly

observable:

“ We infer that learning has taken place if an individual behaves, reacts, responds, as a result of experience in a manner different from the way he formerly behaved”.

This definition has several components that deserves clarification. Learning involves change; which is relatively permanent:

Change in actions and experience. Change – good or bad Change in action or behavior – individual’s thought processes or attitudes Change in experience – acquired directly through observation or practice.

Theories of Learning: How do we learn?Three theories have been offered to explain the process by which we acquire patterns of behavior. These are:

1. Classical conditioning2. Operant conditioning3. Social learning

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING:This grew out of the experiments to teach dogs to salivate in response to ringing of a bell, conducted at the turn of the century by a Russian psychologist, Ivan Povlov.

A simple surgical procedure allowed Povlov to measure accurately the amount of saliva secreted by a dog.

When Povlov presented the dog a piece of meet, the dog exhibited a noticeable salivation.

Then withheld the presentation of meat and merely rang a bell, the dog had no salivation.

Then, Povlov proceeded to link the meat and ringing of the bell. After repeatedly hearing the bell ring before getting the food, the dog began to salivate

as soon as the bell rang. After a while, the dog would salivate merely at the sound of the bell even if no food

was offered. In effect the dog had learned to respond – i.e., to salivate, - to the bell. The meat was an unconditioned stimulus; it invariably caused the dog to react in a

specific way.

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The reaction that took place whenever the unconditioned stimulus occurred was called the unconditioned response.

The bell was an artificial stimulus, or what we call the conditioned stimulus. While it was originally neutral, when the bell was paired with the meat (an unconditioned stimulus), it eventually produced a response when presented alone.

The last key concept is the conditioned response. This describes the behavior of the dog salivating in response to the bell alone.

Using these concepts we can summarize classical conditioning. Essentially, learning a conditioned response involves building up an association between the conditioned stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus. Using the paired stimuli, one compelling and the other one neutral, the neutral one becomes a conditioned stimulus and, hence, takes on the properties of unconditioned stimulus.

Operant conditioning: This argues that behavior is a function of consequences. People learn to behave to get something they want or avoid something they don’t

want. Operant behavior means voluntary or learned behavior in contrast to reflexive or

unlearned behavior. The tendency to repeat such behavior is influenced as a result of the reinforcement or

lack of reinforcement brought about by the consequences of behavior. Reinforcement, therefore, strengthens a behavior and increases the likelihood that it

will be repeated.

Behavior is assumed to be determined from without i.e., learned rather than from within i.e., reflexive or unlearned. By creating pleasing consequences to follow specific forms of behavior, the frequency of that behavior will increase.People will most likely engage in desired behaviors if they are positively reinforced for doing so. Rewards, for example, are most effective if they immediately follow the desired response. Additionally behavior that is not rewarded, or is punished, is less likely to be repeated.

Social learning:1. Individuals can also learn by observing what happens to other people and just by being

told about something, as well as by direct experiences. 2. So, for example, much of what we have learned comes from watching models-

parents, teachers, peers, motion pictures and TV performers, bosses and so forth. 3. This view that we can learn both through observation and direct experience has been

called social learning theory, which is an extension of operant conditioning i.e., it assumes that behavior is a function of consequences, it also acknowledges the existence of observational learning and the importance of perception in learning.

4. People respond to how they perceive and define consequences, not to the objective consequences themselves.

****The influence of model is central to the social learning viewpoint. Four processes have been found to determine the influence that a model will have on an individual. These are:

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1. Attentional process: People only learn from a model when they recognize and pay attention to its critical features. We tend to be most influenced by models that are attractive, repeatedly available, we think we are important, or we see as similar to us

.2. Retention process: A models influence will depend on how well the individual

remembers the models’ action, even after the model is no longer readily available.

3. Motor reproduction process: After a person has seen a new behavior by observing the model, the watching must be converted into doing. This process demonstrates that the individual can perform the modeled activities.

4. Reinforcement process: Individuals will be motivated to exhibit the modeled behavior if positive incentives or rewards are provided. Behaviors that are reinforced will be given more attention, learned better and performed more often.

*****Shaping behavior: In any organization, managers are concerned with making the subordinates

learn those behaviors that are most beneficial to the organization. When a manager moulds individuals by guiding their learning in graduated

steps, he is shaping behavior. A manager can shape behavior systematically reinforcing each successive step

that moves the individual closer to the desired response. If an employee who has been chronically a half-hour late, the manager can

reinforce the behavior so that it comes more close to the desired behavior to be at work on time.

The law of effect:The operant conditioning or learning approach to behavior is based on the law of effect propounded by Thorndike. This law states that:

“the behavior that has rewarding consequences is likely to be repeated; where as behavior that leads to a negative or punishing consequence tends not to be repeated.”

In any organization, the frequency of various behaviors can be seen as depending on the immediate consequence of those behaviors.

If, for example, employees work hard to achieve organizational objectives and are directly rewarded with bonus or privileges, they will tend to repeat their efforts when new objectives are set.

Reinforcement plays a central role in learning process. Rein forcers under a behavioral perspective are external, environmental events that

follow a response. Reinforcement is an external explanation of behavior as compared to motivation,

which is an internal explanation of behavior (being concerned with inner needs). Something is reinforcing only if it strengthens the response preceding it and induces

repetition of the response.

Strategies of Reinforcement:Reinforcement is very important for learning because behavioral response is conditioned by reinforcement. We may define “reinforcement as anything that both increases the strength of response and tends to induce repetitions of behavior that preceded the reinforcement”.

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Managers can manage four types of reinforcement strategies to influence the behavior of employees:

1. Positive reinforcement2. Negative reinforcement3. Extinction &4. Punishment

Positive reinforcement:1. This strategy entails the rewards that stimulate desired behavior and strengthen the

probability of repeating such behavior in the future. 2. Positive rein forcers can be primary or secondary.3. Those considered primary have direct beneficial consequences and include food,

clothing and shelter. 4. Secondary reinforcers bring pleasure but have a variety of meanings for individuals

such as money, promotion and praise. Money is considered secondary because it is used to purchase primary reinforces or as a proxy for status.

5. Effective reinforcers must meet two conditions: first, the reward should be contingent upon the type of performance. Second, the reward should be matched with the needs of the worker.

6. Because positive reinforcers differ among individuals, managers must either develop a reward system that is appropriate for all the members of their work groups or tailor their rewards to suit each individual.

Negative reinforcement or Avoidance learning:Negative reinforcement takes place when individuals learn to avoid or escape from unpleasant consequences. Much lawful behavior in our society is based on avoidance learning.For example: People learn to drive carefully to avoid accidents.In the workplace, avoidance learning usually occurs when peers or supervisions criticize individuals’ actions.Negative reinforcement relies on avoidance of punishment rather than offering a reward.In work environments, training, safety warnings, orientation sessions and counseling help alert employees against negative consequences of undesirable behavior. When coupled with positive reinforcements for appropriate behavior the effect can be extremely beneficial.****Extinction:

It is an effective method of controlling undesirable behavior. It refers to non-reinforcement.

It is based on the principle that if a person is not reinforced, it will eventually disappear.

The absence of all forms of reinforcement is used to remove or extinguish undesirable behavior.

A disruptive employee who, for example, picks fight and who is apparently punished by the supervisor may continue the disruptions because of the attention they bring.

By ignoring or isolating the disruptive employee attention is with held and possibly also the motivation for fighting.

Punishment:Through punishment managers try to correct improper behavior of subordinates by providing negative consequences.

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Giving harsh criticism, docking pay, denying privileges, demoting and reducing an individual’s freedom to do his or her job are common forms of punishment in the workplace. Punishment is the historic method of reducing or eliminating undesirable behavior. Sometimes, punishment frustrates the punished and leads to antagonism towards the punishing agent. As a result the effectiveness of the punishing agent diminishes over time. Because of the possible dangers of punishment, it should be administered properly. The following points may be noted in this regard:

1. The specific undesired behavior, not the person should be punished. If it is directed at the person, punishment will receive revenge.

2. The punishment should be enough to extinguish the undesired behavior under punishment may not deter the behavior while over punishment may produce undesirable results.

3. Punishment should be administered privately. By administering punishment in front of others, the worker is doubly punished in the sense that he is also put out of face.

4. Punishment should quickly follow the undesirable behavior. It is more effective when applied immediately after the undesirable behavior is produced. Further punishment should follow every occurrence of the undesirable behavior.

5. Punishment is effective in modifying behavior if it forces the person to select a desirable behavior that is reinforced. If this is not done the undesirable behavior tends to reappear causing fear and anxiety in the person being punished.

6. Punishment must be administered carefully so that it does not become a reward for undesirable behavior.

Although most ethical criticisms of behavior modification techniques focus on punishment, behavioral scientists advocate the use of positive reinforcement rather than punishment to change behavior. Punishment by definition, only tells the individual what should not be done rather than what should be done. Thus, a new one may follow one mistake as the individual seeks to find, by trial and error, behavior that will not be punished. In addition, punishment causes resentment, which is usually counter- productive in the work environment. For most organization members who are mature and willing to be productive, positive reinforcement is more effective and humane.

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8. CONFLICT

What is a conflict?Conflict occurs whenever disagreements exist in a social situation over issues of substance or whenever emotional antagonisms create frictions between individuals or groups. Managers are known to spend up to 20 percent of their time dealing with conflicts, including conflicts in which the manager is directly involved as one of the principal actors. In other situations, the manager act as a mediator or third party, whose job it is to try and resolve conflicts between other people. In all cases, the manager must be a skilled participant in the dynamics of interpersonal conflict. He or she must also be able to recognize situations that have the potential for conflict and deal with these situations to best serve the needs of both the organization and people involved.Substantive conflict: is a conflict that occurs in the form of a fundamental disagreement over ends or goals to be pursued and means for their accomplishment.Emotional conflict: is a conflict that involves interpersonal difficulties that arise over feelings of anger, mistrust, dislike, fear, resentment, and the like.

Levels of Conflict1. Intrapersonal, or conflict within the individual.2. Interpersonal, or individual-to-individual conflict.3. Intergroup conflict.4. Interorganizational conflict.

Intrapersonal conflict: is conflict that occurs within individuals due to actual or perceived pressures from incompatible goals or expectations.Interpersonal conflict: is conflict that occurs between two or more individuals.Intergroup conflict: is conflict that occurs among groups in an organization.Interorganizational conflict: is conflict that occurs between organizations.

Constructive and destructive (functional and dysfunctional) conflictsConstructive conflict results in positive benefits to the group or organization. It offers the people involved a chance to identify otherwise neglected problems and opportunities; creativity and

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performance can improve as a result. Indeed, an effective manager is able to stimulate constructive conflict in situations in which satisfaction with the status quo inhibits needed change and development. Such a manager is comfortable dealing with both the constructive and destructive sides of the conflict dynamic.Destructive conflict works to the group’s or organization’s disadvantage. It occurs, for example, when two employees are unable to work together due to interpersonal hostilities (a destructive emotional conflict) or when the members of a committee fail to act because they cannot agree on group goals (a destructive substantive conflict). Destructive conflicts of these types can decrease work productivity and job satisfaction and contribute to absenteeism and job turnover. Managers must be alert to destructive conflicts and be quick to action to prevent or eliminate them or at least minimize their resulting disadvantage.

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Understanding stages of conflict

Most conflicts develop in stages, as shown in figure. These stages include antecedent conditions, perceived and felt conflict, manifest conflict, conflict resolution or suppression, and conflict aftermath. The conditions that create conflict, as discussed above, are examples of conflict antecedents; that is, they establish the conditions from which conflicts are likely to develop. In addition, managers should recognize that unresolved prior conflicts help set the stage for future conflicts of the same or related sort. Rather than try to deny the existence of conflict or settle on a temporary resolution, it is always best to deal with important conflicts so that they are completely resolved. When the antecedent conditions actually become the basis for substantive or emotional differences between people and /or groups, stages of perceived conflict exists. Of course, this perception may be held by only one of the conflicting parties. There is also a difference between perceived conflict and the stage of felt conflict. When conflict is felt, it is experienced as tension that motivates the person to take action to reduce feelings of discomfort. For conflict to be resolved, all parties should both perceive it and feel the need to do something about it. When conflict is openly expressed in behavior it is said to be manifest. A state of manifest conflict can be resolved by removing or correcting its antecedents. It can also be suppressed in that, although no change in antecedent conditions occurs, manifest conflict behaviors are controlled; for example, one or both parties may choose to ignore the conflict in their dealings with one another. This is a superficial and often temporary form of conflict resolution. Indeed, we have already noted that unresolved conflicts-and a suppressed conflict falls into this category-may continue to fester and cause future conflicts over similar issues.

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Antecedent conditions

Felt conflictPerceived conflict

Manifest conflict

Conflict resolution or suppression

Conflict aftermath

Unresolved conflicts of any type can result in sustained emotional discomfort and stress and escalate into dysfunctional relationships between individuals and work units. In contrast, truly resolved conflicts and/or make it easier to deal with them. Thus, any manager should be sensitive to the influence of conflict aftermath on future conflict episodes.Conflict resolution: occurs when the reasons for a conflict are eliminated.

Indirect Conflict Management Approaches Appeals to common goals. Hierarchical referral. Organizational redesign. Use of mythology and scripts.

Appeal to common goals involves focusing the attention of potentially conflicting parties on one mutually desirable conclusion.Hierarchical referral uses the chain of command for conflict resolution; problems are referred up the hierarchy for more senior managers to reconcile.Decoupling involves separating or reducing the contact between the two conflicting groups.Buffering is a conflict management approach that sets up inventories to reduce conflict when the inputs of one group are the outputs of another group.Linking pins are persons who are assigned to manage conflict between groups that are prone to conflict.Liaison groups are groups that co-ordinate the activities of certain units to prevent destructive conflicts between them.Scripts are behavioral routines that part of the organization’s culture.Myths are proclamations or beliefs about a situation that deny the necessity to make trade-offs in conflict resolution.Lose-lose conflict occurs when nobody really gets what he or she wants.Avoidance is where everyone pretends the conflict doesn’t really exist and hope that it will simply go away.Smoothing involves playing down differences among conflicting parties and highlighting similarities and areas of agreement; it is also known as accommodation.Compromise occurs when each party involved in conflict gives up something of value to the other.Win-lose conflict occurs when one party achieves its desired at the expense and to the exclusion of the other party’s desires.Competition is conflict management technique whereby a victory is achieved through force, superior skill, or domination.Authoritative command is a direct conflict management technique where formal authority dictates a solution and specify what is gained and lost by whom.Win-win conflict is achieved by collaboration to address the real issues in conflict situation and the use of problem solving to reconcile differences.Collaboration is a direct and positive approach to conflict management that involves a recognition by all conflicting parties that something is wrong and needs attention through problem solving.Problem solving involves gathering and evaluating information in solving problems and making decisions.

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