Block: Nature of Organizational Behavior
Block: Nature of Organizational Behavior
Block: Nature of Organizational Behavior
2
University, Allahabad ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Block
1
Nature of Organizational Behavior
Unit 1 5
Nature of Organizational Behavior
Unit 2 23
Evolution of the Concept of Organizational
Behavior
Unit 3 41
Models of Organizational Behavior
Unit 4 59
Recent Trends in Organizational Behavior
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2. Prof. Arvind Kumar, Prof., Deptt. of Commerce, Lucknow University, Lucknow
3. Prof. Geetika, HOD, SoMS, MNNIT, Allahabad
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BLOCK INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
There are evidences that concepts that we study in the field
Organisational Behaviour existed even in ancient times as evident from
literature of that time. Plato, the Greek philosopher wrote about what is
good leadership. Aristotle discussed persuasive communication. Niccolo
Machiavelli, an Italian philosopher, who lived in sixteenth century,
believed in the philosophy of ‘ends justify means’, laid the foundation
for contemporary work on organizational power and politics. In the
eighteenth century, Adam Smith advocated the concept of division of
labour and showed that efficiencies can be brought about through it. In
the nineteenth century, German sociologist Max Weber gave the concept
of bureaucratic structure of organizations and the advantages
associated with it. Frederick Winslow Taylor introduced scientific
management that involved doing job, selecting and training people in
scientific manner. Later, in the 1920s, Hawthorne Experiments were
conducted that brought forth the existence of social factors at play in
5
Nature of workplace. And that productivity was affected not just by technical
Organizational factors but by social factors-leadership, group dynamics etc. Thus, the
Behaviour
concepts of Organisational Behaviour have been in practice since long,
but Organisational Behaviour as a separate field of study developed after
1940s.
Organisations come into existence to fulfill some needs of society.
Objective of some organizations is to earn profit while fulfilling the
needs, while others exist just to provide some goods or services to people
without any profit motive, like many of the government departments
and non-governmental organisations. Organizations need certain people
to work together and utilize the available resources to carry out its
activities, so that it may achieve its objectives. The success of an
organization is, thus, largely dependent upon the skills and capabilities
of people who manage its resources, or the managers. To attain
effectiveness and efficiency in the functioning of employees a number
of aspects need to be considered. People who come to work together carry
different values, attitudes, personalities, perceptions, needs, etc.
Understanding behaviours in organization is therefore, very crucial for
managers to work and make others work in an organization. Thus human
aspect of work is very critical for any organization. The field of
organisational behavior focuses on studying human behavior in
organizations. Managers are faced with a number of problems like how
to increase productivity of employees, how to enhance team performance,
or how to increase job satisfaction of employees, to name a few. The
knowledge of organizational behavior helps in finding answers to these
questions. To understand what is organizational behavior, it is important
to understand the meaning of the word ‘organisation’ and role and
functions of manager.
Planning Organizing
Controlling
Management Staffing
Controlling Directing
1.7 SUMMARY
• There are evidences in literature that the field Organisational
Behaviour existed even in ancient times, which gradually developed to its
present form.
• Organisations are the social units that have been consciously
created, having with two or more people or groups of people working
together in a coordinated manner, that function on a relatively continuous
basis to achieve certain common goals.
• Managers in the organizations perform a variety of functions. These
are often classified as planning, organizing, staffing, directing,
coordinating and controlling.
• Managers perform a variety of functions that include roles as-
figurehead, liaison, leader, monitor, disseminator, spokesperson,
entrepreneur, disturbance handler, resource allocator, and negotiator.
• Managers must possess three types of skills- human skills, technical
skills and conceptual skills.
• Organisational Behaviour refers to the study of behaviors in an
organization that result from the interactions between individuals, groups
within organization and also between internal and external environment.
• The field of organisational behavior has certain characteristics: it
is a separate field of study, adopts behavioural approach to management,
uses scientific methods, interdisciplinary, adopts open system approach,
has three levels of analysis, and has concern for effectiveness.
• There are factors in external and internal environment of
organisation that affect organisational behavior.
• Knowledge of organizational behavior offers a variety of approaches
to diagnose and address organizational problems.
22
UNIT 2 EVOLUTION OF THE CONCEPT OF
ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to
• Acquaint with the disciplines contributing to Organisational
Behavior
• Understand the classical viewpoint of Human Behaviour
• Get the knowledge of Human Relations Approach
• Understand Behavioural Science Approach of Organisational
Behaviour
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Disciplines contributing to organisational behavior
2.3 Classical viewpoint of Human Behaviour
2.4 Human relations approach
2.5 Behavioural science approach
2.6 Summary
2.7 Key words
2.8 Self assessment questions
2.9 References and Further Readings
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Organizational behavior is the field of study that investigates the
impact of organizational structures on behaviors within organizations.
The field of organizational behavior covers multiple dimensions at
different levels that include studying employee behaviors within
organization and also with respect to external environment. We have
defined organizational behavior in Unit 1 and discussed that
organisational behaviour refers to the behaviours of individuals and
groups within organizations and the interaction between organizational
members and their external environments. Studies in organisational
behavior help in understanding and predicting human behavior in
organizations with the objective to achieve organisational efficiency.
The field of organisational behavior borrows concepts from
various fields to create a separate field of study. Thus, it is an
interdisciplinary field that gets its roots broadly in sociology, psychology,
anthropology, and communication. Organizational behavior
23
Nature of complements organizational theory, which focuses on organizational and
Organizational intra-organizational topics. It also helps in improving the implementation
Behaviour
of concepts of human resource management which is aimed at managing
employee related issues. Relating behaviours with human resource policies
helps in bringing efficiency in managing employees.
Levels of analysis
Organizational studies can be done at various levels depending
upon the scope of analysis. These levels are: Micro, macro and meso levels.
These may be understood as following:
(i) Micro organizational behavior: When the scope of analysis includes
individual and groups in organizations.
(ii) Macro organizational behavior: The level is said to be macro level
when the study involves the whole organizations, their strategies,
their impact on other organizations and the impact of other
organizations on them.
(iii) Meso organisational behavior: Meso level analysis includes
variables like power and politics, organisational culture, cross-
cultural aspects, organisational structure and other organisational
variables.
Sociology Organisational
structure
Organisational Group Field of
Culture Organisational
Organisational Behaviour
change and
Development
Behavioural
change
37
Nature of potential in employees and help them to release that potential
Organizational towards common goals.
Behaviour
· Work is as natural as play and rest.
· People will exercise self-direction if they are committed to the
objectives (they are NOT lazy).
· Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated
with their achievement.
· People learn to accept and seek responsibility.
· Creativity, ingenuity, and imagination are widely distributed among
the population. People are capable of using these abilities to solve
an organizational problem.
· People have potential.
2.6 SUMMARY
· Studies in organisational behavior help in understanding and
predicting human behavior in organizations with the objective to
achieve organisational efficiency.
· The field of organisational behavior borrows concepts from various
fields to create a separate field of study.
· Organizational studies can be done at various levels depending
upon the scope of analysis. These levels are: Micro, macro and meso
levels
· It is the science that seeks to measure, explain, and sometimes
change the behavior of humans and other animals. Psychologists
make an attempt to understand human behavior through studies.
· Sociology studies people in relation to their other human beings. A
social system is a structured social unit that is functional and serves
38
a purpose. Evolution of Concept of
Organizational
· Anthropology is the study of societies or races to understand
Behaviour
their culture, traditions, and practices. The work of
anthropologists helps us understand differences between values
and cultures in different countries.
· The concepts of the field of economics are used to study costs
incurred in carrying out various organisational processes like
production, supply of components and raw material, various
fixed and variable costs, cost incurred in maintaining employees,
and other transaction costs in a business organization.
· Classical era of organisational behavior comprises researches
that totally ignored human aspect. Focus was more on
organisation and productivity.
· Principles of scientific management as given by Taylor include
replacement of rule of thumb by science, scientific selection and
training of workers, differential payment, cooperation between
management and labour.
· Administrative management was proposed by Henry Fayol. He
proposed fourteen principles of management for effective
management.
· Human relations approach developed with Hawthorne
experiments. This approach emphasized the need of
understanding ‘human’ aspect of work.
· Behavioual approach is based upon the study of behavior
employees as individuals having unique set of needs, beliefs,
values and attitudes; and employees as members of groups.
40
UNIT 3 MODELS OF ORGANISATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
· Understand management’s assumption about people
· Comprehend various models of organisational behavior
· Analyse the relevance of organisational behavior models
· Discuss the management challenges
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Management Assumptions about People
3.3 Models of Organisational Behaviour
3.4 Relevance of Organisational Behaviour Models
3.5 Management Challenges
3.6 Summary
3.7 Key Words
3.8 Self-assessment questions
3.9 References and Further Readings
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Organisational behavior is the study of individual behavior and
group dynamics in organisation (Nelson and Quick, 2008).
Organisations have undergone sea change in the past two to three
decades. About a century back, labour was seen as a commodity, then
was viewed as a tool for production, after which behavioural aspect at
work gained currency. Since then, organisations have been adopting
different approaches according to the changing times. Today, the
approach is totally different. Employees are no longer considered to be
merely a means of production. Organisations are trying out new ways
of motivating their employees. New models or paradigms have been
developed to bring effectiveness in organisations and enhance
motivation and productivity of employees.
What is a model?
Model is representation of real life process or things. Models are
the techniques which help us to understand complex things and ideas
in a clear manner. The variables that interact in organisational behavior
are individuals, groups, organisation and external environment. All these
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Nature of factors taken together complicate the ability of the managers to
Organizational understand and manage people in organisation. To understand the
Behaviour
complexity of human behavior and to explain it clearly, need was felt to
develop models of organisation behavior.
Different models of organisational behavior will be discussed in
this Unit that reflect changing approaches to organisational behavior.
These models show different ways in which various elements of
organisational behaviour combine together to produce effectiveness in
organisations.
44
Models of
Management’s Organizational
Behaviour
· Philosophy
· Values
· Vision
· Goals
Motivation
Outcomes:
· Performance
· Individual
satisfaction
· Personal growth
and development
Figure 1. Organisational Behaviour System
(Source: Singh, N. (2001). Organisational Behaviour: Concepts, Theory and
Practices. New Delhi: Deep and Deep Publication)
Work groups form the basis of participative group systems. It
must be appreciated that since a number of people are working together,
group dynamics must be active here. The group will have a leader. For
having well established relationships, it is important that the group
has existed for long. An effective group is the one that has mutual trust
amongst the members. Each group has its own norms and values that
tend to fulfill the needs of group members. Some of the members of the
group act as linking pin between the group and other higher levels and 45
Nature of lower level groups to maintain coordination. Thus, these elements along
Organizational with employee skills and behaviours result in an effective organisation.
Behaviour
Activity 1
Interview two managers of different organisations to identify their
organisational vision. Note down the following:
a) What were the main elements of the vision?
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b) From where did these elements of vision come from?
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3.6 SUMMARY
· Organisations have undergone sea change in the past two to three
decades. New models or paradigms have been developed to bring
effectiveness in organisations and enhance motivation and
productivity of employees.
· Model is the technique which helps us to understand complex things
and ideas in a clear manner.
· The management philosophy is determined by integrating the
assumptions and beliefs about how things are, and how they should
be.
· The elements of organisational system that affect behaviours are:
Mission, vision, goals and objectives, culture, communication
system and management system.
· There can be different forms of organisations depending upon their
management styles. Likert identified four types of management
styles: exploitive - authoritative system, the exploitive - authoritative
system, consultative system and participative-group system
· Different organisations follow different models of organisational
behavior that create different effects on organisations.
· Keith Davis recognized four different models of organisatioanl
behaviour: autocratic, custodial, supportive, and collegial model.
56
· Use of a particular model will depend upon manger’s and Models of
management’s assumption about human behavior in Organizational
Behaviour
organisations.
· Organisations today are facing a number of challenges. Some of
the important ones include increasing competition, changing
customers’ needs, changing profile of workers, employee demand
for empowerment, changing international business environment,
increased quality standards, and work-life balance need of
employees.
3.7 KEYWORDS
Autocratic Model: A model of organisational behavior in which the
basis is power with a managerial orientation of authority
Collegial model: A model of organisational behavior that is based on
mutual understanding and cooperation between employees and
employer.
Custodial model: A type of organisational model where the basis is
economic resources with a managerial orientation of money.
Management style: A General orientation of management in dealing
with employees in organisation
Mission: A standing plan of an organisation, in form of a statement
that reflects philosophy of an organisation.
Model: Model is representation of real life process or things.
Supportive model: A model of organisational behaviour where basis is
leadership and employees in turn are oriented towards job
performance and participation.
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UNIT 4 RECENT TRENDS IN ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to
· Understand the meaning of Globalization
· Comprehend the relation between information technology and
organizational behaviour
· Understand the nature of changing workforce
· Get an insight into changing workplace values and ethics
Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Globalization
4.3 Information Technology and OB
4.4 Changing workforce
4.5 Workplace Values and Ethics
4.6 Summary
4.7 Key Words
4.8 Self-assessment questions
4.9 References and Further Readings
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Organizations today operate in a highly turbulent environment
than they did a few decades ago. The last twenty years have witnessed
unprecedented changes in political, economic and technological
environment. Informational and communication technology (ICT) has
revolutionized the way work is done. Liberalization of economy has
resulted in falling of trade barriers. Companies have started and
expanded their operations beyond the borders of their own country. This
has created new types of jobs. ICT has resulted into developing of new
ways of doing jobs and accessing knowledge. Internet has changed the
ways of managing business and work. These changes have affected
organizations in a big way. The old ways of doing work no longer hold
good in the era of globalization. These changes have implications not
just for large businesses but for small business as well. These businesses 59
Nature of need to adopt new approach for functioning and adaptation to global
Organizational
market demands. Organizations need to change their practices in order
Behaviour
to survive in face of tough competition from national as well as
international players. There are several types of organizational changes
that can occur- strategic changes, organizational cultural changes; involve
organizational structural change, a redesign of work tasks and
technological changes. In line with these changes, there is strong
expectation of employees to improve their knowledge and actively
participate in organizational change processes so as to respond to the
challenges brought by the global economy. Organizations are now
becoming learning organizations which are characterized by continuous
updating of systems, processes and knowledge, thus constantly modifying
the organizational behaviour.
4.2 GLOBALIZATION
Greenberg and Baron (2008) define globalization as “the process
of interconnecting the world’s people regarding the cultural, economic,
political, technological and environmental aspects of their life.”
Globalization implies that the world is free from national boundaries and
that is it a borderless world (Ohmae, 1990). Happenings in one country
affect other economies as well. For example, Hurricane Katrina that struck
US in August 2005 had an impact on several markets of the world due to
disruptions in shipping and petroleum processing. Jasmine revolution,
which began in Tunisia in 2010, and spread to the Middle East countries,
had a substantial influence on global markets. Workers from one country
are moving to other countries. Companies are expanding their operations
in other countries wherever they are finding lucrative market and cheap
labour. Multinational organizations are now referred to as transnational
organizations. Transnational organizations are more global in orientation
(Bartlett and Ghoshal, 1989).
Globalization also has certain implications for organizational
behaviour, some of which are beneficial while others are a reason for
concern. Globalization requires new organizational structures and
different forms of communication to maintain connectivity with
employees, customers, suppliers etc. throughout the globe. It often creates
new career opportunities and potentially brings in new knowledge to
60
improve the organization’s competitive advantage. However, Recent Trends in
Organizational
globalization also increases competition. This makes it imperative to
Behaviour
lead a continuous change and organizational restructuring. Due to falling
of trade barriers, changes taking place in one part of the world affects
other countries too. Phases of economic cycles have an impact not only
on business processes but employees as well. For example, effects of
slowdown in economy in U.S.A. due to sub-prime crisis in 2007 were
felt in India well. It resulted in large scale downsizing (layoffs and other
forms of workforce reduction) in many sectors of economy. Other
changes that are initiated due to globalization are mergers, and other
events that produce stress and dissatisfaction among employees.
Globalization also affects how we apply organizational behaviour
concepts and practices. It has been found through research that work
practices in one country may not be applicable in other countries
because of cultural differences. For example, the way the teams operate,
communication styles with superior, subordinate, and with peers,
decision making methods will be different in European countries and
in Asian countries. This implies that there is a need to acknowledge the
fact that as far as managing behaviours in organizations is concerned,
one must recognize situational aspects of effective OB practices.
The need for global sensitivity
The process of globalization has made it important for
organizations to be sensitive to global social, cultural and ethical issues.
Such issues assume prominence when companies are doing business
with other countries in terms of expanding their customer base, sourcing
their inputs from suppliers in these countries, employing people, setting
up technology based joint ventures, etc.
Companies which have established themselves as global brands
have experienced the need to mould their products and the associated
promotional campaigns in line with these issues. Brands like Coca Cola,
KFC, McDonald’s have accordingly made changes to their brand slogans,
brand names, contents, menu and even the style of writing the brand
names, in order to ensure that they comply with regional socio-cultural
and ethical sensitivities.
61
Nature of Globally sensitive companies also look at the experiences of other
Organizational
Behaviour
companies while formulating their strategies for expanding into new
markets. Both successes and mistakes while entering into a new socio-
cultural arena have to be given due consideration, while expanding. This
becomes an important step towards communicating effectively with all
stakeholders, particularly customers, suppliers, foreign employees and
business partners.
In order to smoothen out differences in sensitive issues, it may often
be important to conduct negotiations. Evidently, the company has to be
open to the prospect of changing its way of doing business in order to
suit different entities. All leading global banks that do business in the
Middle East have set up Islamic banking operations, and operate
differently from conventional banking practices.
In addition to current socio-cultural and ethical issues, it is also
important for companies to be able to foresee the trends in such
sensitivities that will have an impact on their foreign operations. The
Swadeshi Movement, which was an inherent part of the Indian
independence movement, made it difficult for foreign companies to sell
their products in India during the early part of the twentieth century. Such
changes take place in the global environment on an ongoing basis, and
can significantly impact companies doing business in those countries.
Companies have also learnt lessons from mistakes made in
advertisements and promotional campaigns, on account of cultural
differences. These differences stem not only from language, but also from
other areas such as cultural practices. Some common examples from the
corporate world are as below:
· A popular American design company found few buyers, and
resultantly suffered financial losses when they tried to introduce a
new perfume in the South American market, which was advertised
for its fresh camellia scent. Marketers later learnt that camellias
are traditionally used for funerals in many South American
countries, and would not be popular as a perfume.
· Procter and Gamble (P&G), the global FMCG giant, initially
experienced huge losses when it first entered the Japanese market
with its popular Cheer laundry detergent, which was very popular
62
in the United States. Most Japanese housewives did not buy the Recent Trends in
Organizational
product as it was promoted as an effective “all temperature” Behaviour
detergent, whereas the Japanese usually wash clothes in cold
water. P&G later changed its strategy and promised superior
cleaning in cold water and sales for Cheer picked up dramatically.
· Another laundry detergent that used a pictorial advertisement
comprised of three images, the first showing a pile of dirty clothes,
a bucket with the company’s detergent in the middle, and clean
clothes in the third image at the right, found its promotional
campaign failing in the Middle East. The company found that
this happened as most people in this region read right to left,
implying that the use of the detergent causes clean clothes to turn
into a pile of dirty ones.
· The popular slogan “finger licking good”, used by Kentucky Fried
Chicken (KFC), also suffered from faulty translation in China.
The reason was that this catch phrase could be translated to “eat
your fingers off” in Chinese.
The plethora of such blunders that exists in the history of advertising
campaigns is a clear indication that advertisers need to be sensitive to
regional differences. They need to be able to foresee how people will
interpret the information provided to them. A pre-assessment of such
outcomes will lead to fewer blunders in product placement, whereas
corrective action could be difficult and expensive.
Of equal importance is an understanding of ethical issues. The
growing emphasis on corporate social responsibility has underscored
the importance of ethical behaviour in organizations, across the globe.
In light of the above, the need for global sensitivity on multiple
issues of global differences is important for organizations, and such
sensitivity has to be inculcated into the culture of the organization as a
whole.
Total Quality Management
Increased competition due to globalization has resulted in quality
consciousness among companies. Customers would readily shift to
competitors’ product if they are not satisfied with quality. The concept
of total quality management (TQM) is largely becoming popular among
63
Nature of business organizations around the world. TQM is a comprehensive and
Organizational
Behaviour
structured approach to organizational management that seeks to improve
the quality of products and services through ongoing changes in response
to continuous feedback. The focus of the process is customer satisfaction
and involves participation of all the employees in continual improvement.
Different organizations may set their own standards for
maintaining quality. Some follow established international standards like
International Organization for Standardization’s ISO 9000 series. Though
it originated in the manufacturing sector, TQM can be applied to any type
of organization.
Characteristics of TQM
· Customer-focused. The quality of the product is required for customers,
therefore they are the main focus of the process of TQM. An
organization tries to improve its processes by various methods that
involve improving processes through better technology, better quality
of raw materials and components, upgrading machines or training
employees for improving their skills. Every effort is directed towards
improving quality for customer satisfaction. Ultimately, customer
determines whether the efforts made by organizations were able to
fulfill the purpose.
· Employee involvement. Processes are ultimately handled by employees.
Therefore TQM cannot be achieved without employee commitment to
improving quality. Employees must be empowered to practice the new
methods that they have learnt. High-performance work environment
can be created by empowerment and openness.
· Process-centered. TQM focuses on improvement of processes.
Production process involves procuring inputs from suppliers (internal
or external), converting them into outputs (products or services) and
delivering them to customers (internal or external). A process is a series
of steps that follow one another. The steps required to carry out the
process are defined and performance measures are set and
continuously monitored to identify any deviation from standards.
· Integrated system. An organization functions at various levels. There
are different levels of management –top middle and lower level. Various
functions are carried out in different departments that may be seen as
64
vertical levels. All these levels need to be integrated and must work Recent Trends in
Organizational
in a coordinated fashion. TQM aims at interconnecting these Behaviour
horizontal and vertical levels.
· Incremental and continual improvement. TQM aims at continual
improvement. It leads to small improvements in organizational
processes all the time to remain competitive and meet customers’
and stakeholders’ expectations.
· Ongoing monitoring. To find out how well an organization is
performing, it is essential to continuously measures performance
on a continuous basis. This is essential in order to identify deviations,
improve decision making accuracy and make forecast on the basis
of past history.
Reengineering and restructuring
Reengineering an organization is the process of reviewing the
working of the entire organization with respect to its processes, functions
and structure, identifying the points of improvement and make
significant changes to improve the system. Restructuring the firm
includes changing its decision-making, different processes and
management culture. This involves changing the procedures by which
the work is accomplished and products/services delivered.
The goals of reengineering include increased company profits,
improved competitive advantage in the marketplace and enhanced
public image. Reengineering requires an organization to look closely at
its strengths and weaknesses, ask difficult questions where necessary
and make changes for the better of the organization. The reengineering
process identifies elements of an organization that are creating costs
with few benefits and makes necessary adjustments. In some cases, these
adjustments are changes to the way a department does business; in
other cases, these adjustments require layoffs.
Restructuring results in reduction of costs. In the book The
Machine that Changed the World, John Womack and colleagues mentioned
that Toyota and other makers in Japan reduced defects, work-time,
development time and even factory space to half by applying the
principles of teamwork, quality control, customer focus, minimal buffers
and continuous improvement – had cut product defects by half, factory
space by half, work time by half, and development time by half. 65
Nature of Restructuring has both positive and negative sides for employees.
Organizational
Reducing layers and cost reduction efforts result in retrenchment and lay
Behaviour
off of employees. Restructuring often results in changed work schedules
like increase in work hours and changed work methods. This
transformation may create problem in adjustments and may result in
stress. When work hours are made flexible, or options like telecommuting
help employees in attaining work-life balance. It may also result in
increased productivity and improved customer service.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking has become very popular amongst business
organizations in the recent years. It is a process that is adopted to maintain
quality of process in organizations. It involves comparison of practices
and performance of one organization against others. For this purpose
standards, or “best practices,” in industry are identified and used for
measuring and improving performance of one’s organization. The idea
behind benchmarking is simple: make comparisons internally and with
other organizations and continuously improve performance using the
lessons learned through this comparison process.
The objective of benchmarking is to identify the best performance
and to understand the processes and practices that result in that
performance. Companies then improve their performance by modifying
and incorporating these best practices into their own processes and
procedures.
Most business processes are common throughout all the industries.
For example hiring is done in every organization, whether it is in hospitality
industry or heavy industry, and whether government or private. A
company needs to be innovative in incorporating best practices into its
systems.
The process of benchmarking aims at quality improvement.
Benchmarking is used as a tool by organizations to make more informed
decisions regarding the performance. It does so by seeking answers to the
following questions: What are we doing? How are we doing? How others
do it? Where do we stand with reference to identified measures? What
and how to improve?
Benchmarking requires organizations to be outward looking.
66
The process involves the following steps: Recent Trends in
Organizational
(1) A detailed understanding of existing business processes Behaviour
(2) An analysis of the business processes of other organizations
(3) Gap identification through an in depth comparison own business
performance with that of others.
(4) Planning and implementing the steps necessary to close the
performance gap.
Benchmarking offers many advantages. It not only helps
organizations in improving performance, it also helps them in
understanding their cost position. It facilitates the inflow of new ideas
and helps company identify, focus and improve its capabilities that
build its strategic advantage. Once adopted benchmarking must be an
ongoing improvement process as ‘best practices’ keep changing with
time.
ACTIVITY 1
Talk to the manager of (a) domestic company (b) multinational
company who has spent at least 20 years in that organization. Ask them
about changes in their quality management programmes in the past
two decades.
a) Domestic company:
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b) Multinational Company:
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ACTIVITY 2
Interview four employees of different software companies of large
size, having international operations. Ask them how has their
(i) work; and
(ii) personal life changed due to the use of information technology.
Record their responses and classify them under different
headings.
a) Impact of IT on work
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b) Impact of IT on personal life:
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74
Work-place ethics refer to choosing the option, amongst other Recent Trends in
Organizational
available options, that is considered to be the morally and legally right Behaviour
choice.
Leaders are often put in decisions where they must choose among
options that vary in their degree of ethical behaviour. One of the reasons
why this is a common issue for leaders is that there are often competing
priorities for businesses. On the one hand, organizations exist to
generate profits for their shareholders, which may encourage leaders
to act in ways that are less ethical in order to cut costs or increase
revenues. On the other hand, organizations are made up of human
beings who are personally invested in the company and often live in
the communities in which they work. If the individuals are harmed by
decisions that maximize company profitability, then the decision is not
an ethical one. Only one stakeholder is getting their needs met, at the
expense of other stakeholders.
To follow workplace ethics certain characteristics are important.
These are discussed as following:
· Morality
Ethics is closely intertwined with morality. At an individual level,
a high level of moral values becomes the key to ensuring ethical
behaviour. If a team consists of workers who are morally upright,
it is far more likely to behave ethically.
· Teamwork
It is no secret that a group of individuals working as a team is
bound to outperform the same group if each member works
independently. The team spirit should pervade all members of
the team, regardless of organizational or social hierarchy. Also,
while the prime responsibility of nurturing team spirit rests with
the team leader, team members should also work towards
maintaining a healthy attitude towards their team members,
leaving aside individual differences or disputes from outside the
workplace.
· Answerability
The attitude of assuming answerability towards individual
actions is another key towards ethical behaviour. Team leaders
75
Nature of should endeavour to inculcate such attitude in their team members.
Organizational
This ensures that team members do not place the blame on others
Behaviour
for their actions, thereby leading to fewer frictions and better
productivity and environment within the team.
· Perseverance
A group of individuals who remain committed to their objectives
regardless of difficulties, challenges and setbacks will be more
successful at goal achievement. Perseverance, therefore, is vital to
successful goal achievement, which, in turn, is a key to ethical
behaviour.
ACTIVITY 5
Interview a managers of an India based company and a USA based
company. Ask them about the workplace ethics expected in their
organizations. Compare the two.
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4.6 SUMMARY
The developments in technology, particularly those in the areas of
telecommunication and transport, have led to reduction in barriers of
distance, and have, in effect, rendered the entire world as a single
marketplace, free of hindrances placed by political and economic
boundaries. This is true for most of the developed world, and a major
part of the developing world as well. Such integration of world-wide
markets is the crux of globalization, and it ensures that economies that
are linked to each other by this process also share in the positive and
negative developments in other parts of the world. Further, social, cultural
and workplace related behaviours are permeating across countries as a
result of globalization.
One of the important changes that globalization has necessitated
is the mindset of quality. Increasingly, businesses are realizing the
importance of delivering quality goods and services in order to remain
76
competitive in the global context. At the forefront of the quality Recent Trends in
Organizational
revolution is the concept of Total Quality Management (TQM). TQM is
Behaviour
as much a philosophy as it is a practice; it involves an incessant and
holistic process of improvement of quality of the end-product, in
consonance with the requirements of the end-user, improvements
suggested by workers, and enhancements in technology. TQM may
involve a complete re-evaluation and subsequent restructuring of the
processes and technologies involved in the production process, as also
the capability of the workers.
At the forefront of global development is Information and
Communication Technology (ICT), which has emerged as the prime
driver of such global development and change. ICT is a term used to
describe a variety of technologies that facilitate the communication and
sharing of information. ICT is characterized by high-speed, reliable and
inexpensive transmission of data, facilitated by the speedy development
of satellite and mobile communication, as also by the growth in
computational abilities.
From an HR perspective, ICT has changed the workplace by
creating teams that are not necessarily present at the same location.
Networked organizations and virtual teams are now an established
reality, and in addition to adding several interesting dimensions to the
area of organizational behaviour, pose unique challenges as well.
The coming together of organizations at a global level has also
given rise to workforce diversity. Dimensions of such diversity include,
but are not limited to, gender, ethnicity, age, race, nationality and
personal characteristics. An additional dimension is added by the
increasing participation of women at the workplace, and their capable
performance. At the same time, the coming of the knowledge economy
has meant that hierarchical differentiation is more dependent on
knowledge and skills, as against age and seniority. As a result, young
people are often being given positions of authority over older ones. The
outcome of the above changes is the emergence of new issues and
challenges to organizational behaviour.
One of the most significant challenges facing the administrators
of an organization arises out of the growing complexity of businesses.
As businesses grow larger, there is bound to be a separation between
77
Nature of ownership and management, with the managers taking a dominant role
Organizational
Behaviour
in the decision making of the business. The ensuing behavioural issue,
therefore, is ensuring ethical behaviour from managers and their teams,
so that the interests of all stakeholders are protected. It is for this reason
that ethics and corporate governance are at the top of the agendas of
policymakers the world over.
78
Benchmarking: Comparison of practices and performance of one Recent Trends in
Organizational
organization against standards, or “best practices,” in industry, Behaviour
used for measuring and improving performance of the
organization.
Reengineering: The process of reviewing the working of the entire
organization with respect to its processes, functions and
structure, identifying the points of improvement and make
significant changes to improve the system.
80
81
U.P.Rajarshi Tandon Open MBA-1.2
University, Allahabad ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Block
2
Evolution of the Concept of Organisational
Behaviour
Unit 5 5
Types of Individual Behavior
Unit 6 23
Perception and Behavior
Unit 7 41
Learning and Behavior
Unit 8 57
Attitude and Behavior
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1.2 Block Introduction : Evolution of the
Concept of Organisational Behaviour
In this block Two there are four units. Unit Five deals with
individual behaviour and its type. Unit six highlights perception
and human behaviour. Unit Seven deals with learning and
behaviour various theory of learning and its uses. Unit Eight
deals with attitude and behaviour. It explores various dimension
of attitude and its impact on human behaviour.
4
UNIT 5 TYPES OF INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
· Comprehend the meaning of personality and personality trait
· Know the types of personalities
· Understand Big Five Personality Model
· Know about Myer-Briggs Type Indicator
Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Types of Personality
5.3 Personality Traits
5.4 The Big Five Dimensions
5.5 Myers Briggs Type Indicator
5.6 Summary
5.7 Key Words
5.8 Self-assessment Questions
5.9 References and Further Readings
5.1 INTRODUCTION
We see different types of people with different characteristics all
around us. Some are shy, while some are aggressive. Some are
calm and patient while others are short-tempered and impatient.
People possess different combinations of personality
characteristics. These characteristics stay with them for a very
long period of time, sometimes for entire lifetime and do not
change easily. Thus, we can say that personality is a stable set of
characteristics. Organisations widely use the available literature
and information about behaviours and personality in managing
employees. For example, psychometric tests, that test personality
characteristics, are often used by organizations selection purpose.
These psychometric and personality tests can be immensely
beneficial in improving knowledge about employees that can help
in understanding various concepts like - motivations, strengths
and weaknesses in relation to job performance, styles of
communications, leadership qualities and team-working.
Concept of Personality
5
Evolution of the The term personality has been derived from the Latin word ‘per
Concept of Organisa- sonare’ which means ‘to speak through’. It refers to masks used by actors
tional Behaviour
in ancient Greece and Rome. In this context, the term personality denotes
external appearance. However, the term personality, as described by the
researchers today constitutes both internal and external aspects of a
person. Greenberg and Baron (2008, p. 135) define personality as ‘the
unique and relatively stable patterns of behavior, thoughts and emotions
shown by individuals’. According to Ruch (1963), personality should
include:
• External appearance and behaviour or social stimulus value
• Inner awareness of self as a permanent organising force
• The particular pattern or organisation of measurable traits, both
inner and outer
By this account, personality may be defined in terms of behavioural
aspect as propensity to react to different environmental stimuli in a
particular manner. These are the behavioural outputs of an individual to
his/her surroundings. Thus, personality constitutes all the traits and
behaviours that determine an individual’s responses to and adjustments
with environment. Different people having different personality traits may
react differently towards the same situation. You may be aware of people
around you who get worried over small problems, while there may be
others having a ‘happy-go-lucky’ attitude who take problems lightly and
are happy in every situation.
It is very important to understanding the personality of self and others to
understand your own behavior, style of working and better judge what
motivates people - and yourself. The more you understand about your
own personality and that of other people, the better able you are to adapt
and adjust with the environment.
There are many theories of personality. Each of the different theories
and models of personality provide an insight into motivation and
behaviour. Five theories of personality are discussed here:
1) Trait Theory
2) Psychodynamic theory
3) Humanistic theory
4) Integrative approach
5) Social learning theory
Personality theories have been developed to provide an
understanding of the personality of an individual. They help in
6 understanding the elements that shape our personality. Interestingly,
society also plays a major role in shaping the personality of an Types of
individual. Personality theories were developed in three streams of Individual
Behaviour
thought. They are psychoanalytic theory considers that certain elements
in the human brain are responsible for shaping personality, self-theory
explains the impact of environment on the individual personality.
Similarly social learning theory provides that situation determines the
personality. Let us learn them in detail.
1) Trait Theory
Many theorists believe that in order to understand personality it
is important to understand the traits that make up these According to
Trait theory, personality of an individual may be divided into a number
of observable traits which together make up personality. According to
Allport (1961), traits are broad, general guides that bring consistency
in behavior. The ‘Big Five’ model (discussed later) proposes that there
are five major personality types through which behaviours at work may
be explained (Digman, 1990). For example, introverted and
conscientious employees are less likely to be absent from work (Judge,
Martocchio &Thoresen, 1997).
2) Psychodynamic Theory
Sigmund Freud developed psychodynamic theory. According to
him human mind consists of three elements that are responsible for
shaping the personality which are Id, Ego and Super Ego.
Consciousness is guided by principle of reasoned reality and
unconsciousness is ruled by hedonistic principle of pleasure. According
to this approach, personality determines the behavior. The personality
systems of human mental activity are: The Id, The Ego, The Super Ego.
They are described below:
· The Id: Id is most basic element. It represents the totality of
instincts oriented towards avoiding pains and getting immediate
satisfaction of desires. Id forms the foundation of one’s personality.
· The Super Ego: Super ego forms the basis for moral actions and
beliefs of human personality consisting of ‘should’ and ‘shouldn’t’, and
ideals.
· The Ego: Ego is the rational element. It takes information from
the environment and stores it. It is logical. There is a conflict between
one’s moral values and desire to fulfill one’s worldly desires. Thus Id
and Super ego are at a clash. Ego mediates between the two.
3) Humanistic or Self Theory
7
Evolution of the Carl Rogers contributed to the development of humanistic or the
Concept of Organisa- self-theory. It is also known as Organism theory or field theory. The theory
tional Behaviour
is based upon the belief that individuals direct all their actions to achieve
self-actualisation. Here, individual is an initiating, creating and
influencing the determinant of behavior within the environment
framework.
Elements of self-theory are explained below:
a) Organism: Organism is the individual and is the store-house of all
experiences. Organism is guided by conscious and unconscious elements
so that individual behavior is caused by self – evaluation and by
experiences.
b) Phenomenal field: Phenomenal field represents the sum total of all
experiences that are collected by an individual through environmental
interaction. An individual wants to grow and improve and aims at self-
actualization, that acts as motivator. This quest to become what one can
become is guided and controlled by environment in which individual lives.
c) Self –concept: Self –concept forms basis for individual behavior
and personality. Self can be understood as a combination of perceptions,
beliefs, attitudes, values and traits. It represents the concept of ‘I’ and
‘Me’. Here, ‘I’ indicates one’s own psychological process and is called
personal self. ‘Me’ pertains to the belief of an individual as to how he
appears to others and is called social self. Thus both personal self and
social self determine individual behavior.
Self-theory provides valuable guide in understanding behavior and
proposes that self-concept is an important part of an individual’s
personality.
4) Integrative approach
Researchers, more recently, have taken a broader approach to
understanding the concept of personality (Clarke & Hoyle, 1988),
integrating both personal and situational variables. An individual’s
disposition to behave in a particular manner is determined by personality,
and personality may be seen as a sum total of all psychological processes.
Thus, psychological variables and situations together explain the
formation of personality.
5) Social Learning Theory
Albert Bandura developed social learning theory. It states that
personality is determined by the learning from environment and
interactions in different situations. The following are the assumptions of
the theory.
8
According to the theory, an individual observe the models in the Types of
environment and learns a behavior. For example, if a child observes Individual
Behaviour
other students in school completing their work timely and getting
appreciated by teachers, he/she too may try to emulate others and
inculcate the same habit, which then forms the part of personality. When
a person has undergoes experiences, certain cognitions are formed which
are retained. When these experiences are repeated and practiced by the
person under similar conditions, behaviors are reinforced.
Social learning theory helps in understanding the concept of
personality. It considers environment as determinant of behaviour, and
by controlling the environment behaviours and hence personality can
be shaped.
Activity 1
Talk to some people around you. Ask them to describe their
personality. Categorize personality variables as a) those that developed
due to personal factors and b) those that developed due to impact of
environment.
Developed due to personal factors Developed due to impact of environment
DETERMINANTS OF PERSONALITY
Personality is determined by a number of variables. Many
environmental, psychological and situational factors work together to
shape personality. There are certain aspects of a personality that are
present in the person by birth. These include physical features, certain
inherent talents and skills, etc. There are other aspects of personality
that are shaped by the environment to which an individual is exposed
to. Environment constitutes family, school, neighbor, etc. Also, despite
being in the same environment, personalities may differ. For example,
siblings in the same family, though exposed to the same environment
may have a completely different personality. We can say that another
factor comes into play here, which is situation. Let us now discuss all
the factors in detail.
· Heredity: Features passed on from one generation to the other
through genes constitutes heredity. Heredity is known to affect
physical features like height, skin colour, colour of eyes, facial
9
Evolution of the features etc. Even intelligence is known to be determined by heredity
Concept of Organisa- factors.
tional Behaviour
· Environmental Factors: The environment in which an individual
is brought up and lives greatly affects personality. Family, friends,
teachers, school, college, neighbour, larger social circle, all
constitute environment. One gets first values from family. Parents
teach their children about what is right and what is wrong. The
type of bonding between family members has deep influence upon
the child. Later in life, many behaviours are learned and acquired
in college. Our teachers, college rules and regulations, friends – all
shape our personality. Social learning plays an important role here.
Thus socialization process,
· Situational Factors: In recent years, the influence of situational
factors on personality is increasingly recognized. Situational
factors are the unique situations which one experiences in day to
day life. These experiences are unique to a person, even though
they may be born and brought up in the same environment. For
example, two siblings studying in the same school, having the same
family, may experience different situations. One may be having a
very strict teacher, who demands strict adherence to rules, while
other may have a teacher, who has altogether a very lenient
approach. Thus, both are put into different situations each day.
Above discussion indicates that personality is an outcome of a
number of factors acting together and personality needs to be understood
as a holistic concept.
Activity 2
List 15 of your personality traits. Identify their sources as a)
heredity b) environment c) situations.
Heredity Environment Situations
10
The important personality aspects that determine what type of Types of
performance will be achieved or what kind of behaviour is depicted at Individual
Behaviour
work are
1. Machiavellianism
2. Self esteem
3. Locus of control
4. Introversion-extroversion
5. Type A and B personalities
6. Achievement orientation
7. Risk taking
8. Self monitoring
Machiavellianism
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) was a philosopher who wrote
his theory of political control in The Prince. He believed in the philosophy
of ‘ends justify means’. The term Machiavellian has its origin from the
name of this philosopher and denotes his belief. Machiavellianism
(Mach) refers to the degree to which an individual is practical in his
approach, maintains an emotional distance from others, and believes
that ends justify the means. Research has revealed that individuals who
score high on Mach are good at manipulating others and try to win by
any means. They do not need to be persuaded to work but instead are
able to successfully persuade others. People having a high Mach perform
well in situations that involve face-to-face meetings. They are especially
productive in jobs that require the use of bargaining (persuasion) skills
and in jobs that offer substantial rewards for the achievement of goals.
On the basis of the degree to which these characteristics are
present in an individual, people may be classified as high mach or low
mach. Low Machs are more easily persuaded, more empathic, and are
interpersonally oriented. High Machs are more resistant to persuasion,
they are more pragmatic and logical. Culture also has been found to
have an impact on the extent of Machiavellianism present in an
individual. Machiavellians perform well in jobs which require
bargaining skills (labour negotiation), where there are large rewards
for winning (commission sales).
2. Self Esteem
Self-esteem refers to the feeling of self respect. It shows the degree
of self-confidence and belief that one has in his/her capabilities. It varies
from person to person. People with high self –esteem believe that they
have the abilities to take up challenging jobs. They do not bother about 11
Evolution of the others’ beliefs about themselves. They move ahead with a conviction and
Concept of Organisa- prefer to choose jobs that are unconventional in nature. On the other hand,
tional Behaviour
people with low self-esteem are more vulnerable to external influences
than those with high self esteem. Self-esteem also has implications for
behavior in organizations. People with high self-esteem perform better
and have higher job satisfaction (Tharenou and Harker, 1984).
3. Locus of Control
Locus of Control is an individual’s belief, whether events are within
one’s control (internal locus of control) or are determined by external
factors that beyond one’s control (external locus of control). Research
has proved that people having internal locus of control (those who believe
that events are determined by external factors) are more satisfied with
their jobs, are more likely to assume managerial positions and have a
participative style of management (Judge and Bono, 2001). People with
external locus of control are likely to prefer a more structured job and
have reluctance in getting involved in decision making.
What is your Locus of Control?
The following scale can give you an idea of your locus of control. For
each of the four items, circle the choice a or choice b.
1 a) Becoming a success is a matter of hard work; luck has little or
nothing to do with it. b) Getting a good job depends mainly on
being in the right place at the right time.
2 a) The average citizen can have an influence in government decision.
b) This world is run by the few people in power, and there is not
much the little guy can do about it.
3 a) As far as world affairs are concerned, most of us are the victims
of forces we can neither understand nor control.
b) By taking an active part in political and social affairs, people can
control world events
4 a) With enough effort we can wipe out political corruption.
b) It is difficult for people to have much control over the things
politicians do in office.
Scoring Key:
The internal locus of control answers are: 1a, 2b, 3b, 4a
The external locus of control answers are: 1b, 2a, 3a, 4b
The category you circled most frequently gives an approximation of
your locus of control
Sources: Adeyemi-Bello, T (2001). Validating Rotter’s Locus of Control
12
Scale with a Sample of Not-for –profit Laeders. Management Research
News. 24, 25-35; Rotter, JB (1966). Generalized Expectancies for Types of
Individual
Internal vs. External Locus of Control of Reinforcement. Psychological
Behaviour
Monographs,80, whole No. 609
4. Introversion and Extroversion
Introversion and extroversion denote a person’s penchant for
sociability and interpersonal orientation. Introverts have a world inside
them and open up in front of others with difficulty. They like to speak
less. Both introverts and extroverts have different career orientations
and require different organisational environment to maximise their
performance. Extroverts are more likely to perform well in jobs that
require a lot of interaction with others. In contrast, introverts are more
likely to do well at jobs that require analytical skills.
5. Type A and Type B Personality
Type A and Type B personality individuals differ in their approach
towards doing work. Type A individual is always in a hurry, is extremely
competitive and often irritable. They feel and time is less and they have
to perform a lot. They are highly goal oriented and count their success
by material gains. Type B personality is a person who is relaxed, and
works at an easy pace. They also achieve their goals but without getting
unduly worried. They take time to enjoy life.
6. Achievement Orientation
Different people have different levels of need for achievement.
Degree to which this characteristic is present in an individual can be
used for predicting the behaviour of people. People with high
achievement orientation continually attempt to improve their
performance. They are persistent in overcoming difficulties, and want
to take the full cred it for their success. Owing to this they take prefer to
take up the task that is neither too tough nor too easy. Tough task will
make it difficult to be achieved, and failure rate is likely to be higher so
that their need for achievement is not fulfilled, at the same time easy
level of task will not be challenging enough so as to give them the
satisfaction of achievement. They want to believe that resultant success
is owing to their actions. Hence, they prefer to perform tasks that are
moderately difficult.
There is an impact of this personality trait and behavior in
organizations. High achievers show better performance in the presence
of moderate difficulty, immediate performance feedback and direct
relationship between effort and reward. This implies that high achievers
are successful in careers in sales, sports or management.
13
Evolution of the 7. Risk Taking
Concept of Organisa-
tional Behaviour
People differ in their ability to tolerate uncertainties. Individuals
who can work under situations of ambiguity and uncertainty are the ones
having high risk taking ability. Such people can take up tasks where
outcomes are not certain. On the other hand, low risk taking individuals
like to work under situations of certainties. They perform well when they
have structured task.
8. Self monitoring
Self monitoring refers to the ability to adapt one’s behavior
according to the situation. High self monitors study others’ behavior very
closely and take cues from there to change their behavior according to
the demand of the situation. Low self monitors are the people whose
reactions and behviours in different situation remain the same. They are
not as alert to cues in environment.
14
Depending upon the level of significance of traits in a person’s life, he Types of
categorized these traits into three levels: Individual
Behaviour
· Cardinal Traits: Traits that are present in the individual for the
entire life and are so dominant that the individual is identified
with those traits. Their name becomes synonymous with these
traits. For example, Freudian, Machiavellian, narcissistic.
· Central Traits: These traits do not dominate the personality but
are central to description of a person. Thus, one may Terms such
as be described as honest or intelligent.
· Secondary Traits: These are the traits that are sometimes related
to attitudes or preferences and often appear only in certain
situations or under specific circumstances. Some examples would
be getting anxious when speaking to a group or impatient while
waiting in line.
2) Cattel’s Trait Theory: Cattle’s theory divides the traits into two
categories: Surface trait and Source trait. Surface traits are those
that can be seen outside or on the surface of personality. These
traits originate from the underlying Source traits. Thus Source
traits are the ones that are not visible but are present on inner
side of the personality and give rise to Surface traits. Thus, it
may be said that Source trait is a source, surface trait is effect.
19
Evolution of the -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Concept of Organisa- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
tional Behaviour
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.6 SUMMARY
· The term personality, as described by the researchers today
constitutes both internal and external aspects of a person.
· According to Trait theory, personality of an individual may be
divided into a number of observable traits which together make
up personality.
· According to psychodynamic approach, personality determines the
behavior. The personality systems of human mental activity are:
The Id, The Ego, The Super Ego.
· The humanistic or self theory is based upon the belief that
individuals direct all their actions to achieve self-actualisation
· Integrative approach integrates both personal and situational
variables in explaining the concept of personality.
· Personality is determined by three factors: heredity, environment
and situation
· Machiavellianism (Mach) refers to the degree to which an individual
is practical in his approach, maintains an emotional distance from
others, and believes that ends justify the means.
· Self-esteem refers to the degree of self-confidence and belief that
one has in his/her capabilities.
· Introversion and extroversion denote a person’s penchant for
sociability and interpersonal orientation.
· Some other important personality types that affect jobs are locus
of control, risk taking, Type A and Type B Personality
· Traits are consistent patterns of thoughts, beliefs, behviours and
actions that make people different from one another. Allport
classified the traits into two categories: Common traits and
Personal
disposition or individual traits. Cattle’s theory divides the traits
into two categories: Surface trait and Source trait.
· The Big Five represents a system of classification of traits that has
the ability to explain individual differences in personality.
20
· Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test designed Types of
to assist a person in identifying some significant personal Individual
Behaviour
preferences.
6.1 INTRODUCTION
We gather information about the world through the five senses,
namely sense, of touch, vision, hearing, taste and smell. However, the
information gathered through the five senses may be interpreted
differently by different persons. Reactions of different persons towards
the same situation are also different. Thus, people perceive the same
things in a different manner. Take an example of a movie that is viewed
by hundreds of people. Many people may like the movie, but not all for
the same reason. Some may appreciate acting, while others may
appreciate direction of the movie, still others may like it for its songs,
depending upon their interests and may be overall state of mind. These
differences in interpretations may arise due to different factors. Thus
perception may be understood as including all those processes by which
an individual receives stimuli from the environment by seeing, hearing
feeling, tasting and smelling, which are then interpreted and meaning
is drawn out of them. Studies indicate that of these processes are affected 23
Evolution of the by variables related to (1) receiver of the stimuli, (2) the object, person or
Concept of Organisa- event being perceived and (3) the situation in which the process is taking
tional Behaviour
place. In other words, “perception is the process by which individuals
organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning
to their environment” (Robbins, 1998). Perception plays an important role
in organisational settings. Changes in work related policies, for example,
changes in work hours at a manufacturing plant, may be viewed
differently by different levels of employees. To workers it may seem to be
an attempt by the management to exploit them, while the same policies
may be viewed as beneficial to organization and to employees by middle
and top level management. Thus perception is a complex process which
is much more than just receiving sensory impressions. Since perception
plays an important role in interpreting and judging behaviours of others,
it is very essential for managers to understand the process of perception
to avoid misunderstandings at workplace.
⇒
Perceptual selection phase
Organization phase
Interpretation phase
26
A BIRD IN THE Perception and
Behaviour
THE BUSH
OOOO OOO
XXXX XXX
28 Figure 6.5: Proximity affects perception
U.P.Rajarshi Tandon Open MBA-1.2
University, Allahabad ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Block
3
Motivation and Leadership
Unit 9 5
Motivation
Unit 10 35
Motivation : Practical applications
Unit 11 58
Leadership
Unit 12 77
Leadership : Contingency perspectives
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1. Dr. Omji Gupta, Director SoMS UPRTOU, Allahabad
2. Prof. Arvind Kumar, Lucknow University, Lucknow
3. Prof. Geetika, HOD, SoMS, MNNIT, Allahabad
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Block 3 contains four units. Unit nine deals with motivation and
its theory. Unit Ten deals with motivation and its practical application.
Unit eleven deals with leadership theories while unit twelve deals with
contingecy perspectives of leadership.
4
UNIT 9 MOTIVATION
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
· Understand the concept of motivation
· learn need-based theories of motivation
· Learn behavioral theories of motivation
· Understand various models of motivation
Structure
9.1 Concept of motivation
9.2 Need-based theories of motivation
9.3 Expectancy theory
9.4 Goal setting theory
9.5 Summary
9.6 Self-assessment Test
9.7 Case Study
9.8 Further Readings
8
Motivation
Self-Actualization Needs
Esteem Needs
Social Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
9
Motivation and iv. Esteem Needs
Leadership
The next higher level is of esteem needs, also known as ego needs
or self-esteem needs, which include the need for strength, achievement,
recognition, appreciation, respect and prestige. In order to meet such
needs of employees, a manager can provide regular and positive
feedback, prestigious job titles, recognition schemes, promotions, etc.
v. Self-actualization Needs
Self-actualization needs represent the highest level of needs in
the hierarchy proposed by Maslow, and refer to a person's desire for
self-fulfillment, namely, to the tendency to become actualized in what
he/she is potentially. Challenging job assignments, discretion over work
activities, promotion oppotuntieis and encouragement to bring out
creativity at work can fulfill these needs.
Maslow classified these five needs into two broad categories:
higher order needs and lower order needs. The basic needs, i.e.,
physiological needs, safety needs and social needs were classified as
lower order needs, whereas esteem and self-actualization needs were
described as higher order needs. The distinction between these two
categories was made based on a single premise: whether a person assigns
more importance to internal factors or to external factors. If a person
gives more importance to the external factors such as salary, security,
company policies, fringe benefits, etc., the lower order needs are very
dominant in him/her. On the contrary, if a person assigns greater
importance to challenging assignments, self-esteem and recognition, it
is implied that the higher order needs are very dominant in him/her.
Maslow's framework is based on three fundamental assumptions:
i. Individuals are goal-oriented, and their needs can influence teir
behavior. Further, only unsatisfied needs can influence behavior;
satisfied needs do not act as motivators.
ii. A person's needs are arranged in an order of imporance or
heirarchy, from the basic (e.g., food and shelter) to the complex
(e.g., ego and achievement).
iii. An individual advances to the next level of the need hierarchy, i.e.
from basic to complex needs, only when a lower order need is
substantially satisfied before the next level is activated. In other
words, the next level in the hierarchy will be dominant only after
the fulfillment of a need at its lower level. For example, a worker
10
will first focus on satisfying a need for safe working conditions Motivation
12
iii. Growth Needs Motivation
13
Motivation and · Alderfer highlighted that once an individual's higher level need is
Leadership
not fully satisfied or he/she encounters difficulty in fulfilling such
need, this would result in frustration and disappointment. Further,
the individual will exhibit a strong desire to regress to a lower level
need in which he/she finds more comfort and satisfaction.
· Alderfer further stated that an individual may have an intention
to fulfill more than one need at the same time. In other words, an
individual may be working towards fulfilling both his/her
relatedness needs and growth needs or existence and related needs
simultaneously. An employee who seeks a promotion or increased
responsibilities may be attempting to satisfy all needs by increasing
pay (existence), developing a larger social network (relatedness),
and increasing self-esteem (growth).
In summary, ERG theory argues, like Maslow, that satisfied lower-
order needs lead to the desire to satisfy higher order needs; but multiple
needs can be operating as motivators at the same time, and frustration in
attempting to satisfy a higher level need can result in regression to a lower
level need. Alderfer's ERG theory clearly states that all categories of needs
can become more important as they are satisfied. Additionally, individuals
may place greater emphasis on any single category as opposed to the
rigid hierarchy of moving from one need to the next.
Implications of ERG Theory
Alderfer has proposed two sets of views on individual's aspirations
and fulfillment of needs. One is satisfaction-progression and other is
frustration-regression. Satisfaction progression is similar to Maslow's
model, in which once an individual's basic needs are satisfied, he/she will
progress to the next higher level to have them satisfied. The other view
proposed was of an individual's aspirations and fulfillment. If people
eventually become frustrated in trying to satisfy their needs at one level,
their next lower level needs will re-emerge and they will regress to the
lower level to satisfy the ore basic needs. This is known as frustration-
regression. If we look back to Maslow's theory, an individual would stay
at a certain need level until that need was satisfied.ERG theory counters
by noting that when a higher order need level is frustrated, the individual's
desire to increase a lower-level need takes place. For example, inability to
satisfy a need for social interaction might increase the desire for more
money or better working conditions. So frustration can lead to a regression
14 to a lower need.
To summarize, the ERG theory argues that satisfied lower order Motivation
needs lead to the desire to satisfy higher order needs; however, multiple
needs can be operating as motivators at the same time and frustration
in attempting to satisfy a higher level need can result in regression to a
lower-level need. For managers, the ERG theory provides a more
workable approach to motivation in organizations because of the
frustration-regression approach component, which gives the
opportunity of directing employee behavior in a constructive manner
even though higher order needs are temporarily frustrated. Figure 2
shows ERG theory in terms of satisfaction-progression and frustration-
regression.
These factors are related to the context of the job and Herzberg named
them as dissatisfiers or hygiene factors, because they are needed to
maintain at least a level of no dissatisfaction. Broadly speaking, these
include; job security, salary, working conditions, status, company
policies, supervision and fringe benefits. Herzberg argued that
improvement in the hygiene factors would only minimize dissatisfaction,
but would not increase satisfaction and motivation.
ii. Satisfiers
There is also a set of intrinsic job conditions that help to build
levels of motivation, which can result in good job performance. The
presence of motivating factors always ensure job satisfaction and
happiness among the employees. If these factors (or conditions) are not
present, they do not result in dissatisfaction as such. They are related
to the content of the job and are called satisfiers. These include:
achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility advancement, and
personal growth and development.
Figure 3 shows the motivating factors and hygiene factors in
Herzberg's theory.
21
Motivation and McClelland categorized power into two types: personal power and
Leadership
institutioanl power. Managers high in personal power like to inspire
subordinates and expect the latter to respect and obey them. Such
behaviors gratify their own need for power in a personal sense.
Managers who sre high in institutional power tend to exert authority
and influence on others, so as to achieve the goals of the
organization, rather than to satisfy personal ego. McClelland
describes such managers as "organization-minded", as they exercise
power and get things done in the interests and welfare of the
organization. McClelland feels that institutional or social power is
good for an organization and personal power is deterimental to the
overall interests of the organization.
iii. Need for Affiliation
Need for Affiliation (nAff) refers to the desire for friently and close
interpersonal relationships. Individuals high in Need for Affiliation
like to interact with colleagues in the organization; they have a
strong desire for approval and reassurance from others and are
willing to conform to the norms of groups to which they belong.
They are usually gregarious by nature and like to work with others
in a friendly atmosphere. Team work, cooperative efforts, and joint
problem-solving sessions are suited for those high in this need.
Implications of McClelland's Three-Needs Theory
For individuals high in Need for Achievement (nAch), too little
challenge at work will bring monotony, since there is no opportunity to
satisfy their urge to achieve. However, too much challenge would imply
that the job is difficult and hence will induce fear of failure in them. Since
their needs for achievement and accom;plishment are high, high nArc
individuals will avoid working on jobs that are so challenging that
successful task accomplishment may become doubtful. Also, high
achievers tend to avoid very easy or very difficult tasks; instead they show
willingness to take up any assignment of moderate level of difficulty.
Positions of authority and influence in the organization bring out
the best in persons with high Need for Power (n Pow). These people like to
take charge and be in control of situations. Placing such individuals in
high level positiions will help them to gratify their own needs as well as
get many of the organization's policies and orders followed and carried
out by their subordinates.
22
People high in Need for Affiliation (nAff) perform better when Motivation
23
Motivation and i. Expectancy I : Effort-Performance Relationship
Leadership
Expectancy is the perceived belief concerning the likelihood that a
particular behavioral act will be followed by a particular outcome.
It represents the extent to which an individual's belief system links
the Effort-Pefformance relationship, i.e., exerting a given amount
of effort will lead to a corresponding level of performance. The
degree of such belief can vary between 0 (representing complete
lack of a relationship between the act and a given outcome) and 1
(representing complete certainty that an act will result in a given
outcome).
Let us explain this with an illustration. Suppose that a student has
a strong belief that if he puts 10 hours of reading per day, the chance
of his getting a First Divisiion in examination is very high, and at
the same time if he behieves that with only 2 hours of reading per
day, the chance of getting a pass mark is very remote. The main
emphasis here is that differential levels of efforts in work will lead
to differential levels of outcome (i.e., securing a First Division and
securing passing marks). The student has two options here: he
might decide to put forth his best effort and perform an excellent
job, or he might decide to put forth a moderate level of effort and
do an acceptable job. In the latter case, the final performance may
be either acceptable or less acceptable Hence, for each of the effort-
performance contingencies, the individual will attach some kind
of probability which would range from 0 to 1. For example, the
individual might attach a probability of 0.8 that he would do an
excellent job if he puts in superior efforts and a probability of 0.2
that it would end up to be only an acceptable job even when he
puts in superior performance.
ii. Expectancy II (Instrumentality): Performance-Reward Relationship
Instrumentality is the belief that if one does meet performance
expectations, he/she will receive a greater reward. This refers to
the relationship between first and second-level outcomes.
According to Vroom, instrumentality can vary between +1.0 and -
1.0. If the first level outcome (e.g., high performance) always leads
to a pay increase, then instrumentality would be perceived as having
a value of +1.0. If there is no perceived relationship between the
first and second-level outcomes, then instrumentality approaches
24 zero. This may be inferred as the extent to which an individual's
belief system links the Performance-Reward relationship, that is, Motivation
26
employee's motivational force associated with receiving outcomes of Motivation
Value of Satisfaction
Rewards
Ability to Do Perceived
Specific Task Equitable
Perceived
Effort-
Reward
Probability
Figure 5 : Porter and Lawler Model
The model highlights two important factors which facilitate or
influence an individual employee to put more effort in work, namely:
valence and perceived Effort-Reward probability. Let us briefly explain
these terms now.
iv. Valence : The first f actor concens the extent to which the value of a
reward (valence) that is likely to be received from job influences
the amount of effort. For example, if a person is showing more
interest towards the reward or expected outcome, the chances of
putting more effort in his/her work will be very high. If the expected
reward is not attractive enough, the individual is likely to lower his
efforts.
v. Perceived Effort-Reward Probability : The second factor states
28 the influence of perceived Effort-Reward probability. If a person feels
that the probability of getting a reward is very high for a given Motivation
level of effort, he/she will more likely to put high level of effort in
work.
There are other two significant factors which facilitate to
maximize the amount of performance, discussed as follows:
• Abilities and Traits: If an individual has requisite abilities, skills
and traits to perform the assigned job, he/she will produce more
results than others who do not have such skills to perform such
type of tasks. Traits include endurance, perseverance and goal-
directedness which are relevant for doing any task. These abilities
and traits will moderate the Effort-Performance relationship.
• Role Perception : If an individual has very clear role perception,
that is, clear descriptions of what he/she is supposed to do in
his/her task without any ambiguity or confusion, the person will
deliver more output. Accuracy of role perception is another
variable that moderates the Effort-Performance relationship. That
is, only those who perceived their role as it is defined by the
organization, will be able to perform when they put forth the
required effort in their job.
Implications of Porter and Lawler Model
Porter and Lawler's model is of great significance to managers
since
it sensitizes them to focus their attention on ways to keep their employees
motivated. Assigning the right type of jobs to the right types of person,
thus ensuring perfect match between person and job, is one way of
motivating employees. Clear job descriptions and highlighting what a
person is expected of in his work (role perception) and assignment of
proper performance levels such as number of units produced, number
of customer attended, etc. also induce high motivation. If high levels of
motivation are to be induced, managers should ensure that the
employees perceive a direct link between performance and desired
rewards. If significant changes in performance levels are desired, the
rewards given must also be significant and valued enough by the
employees to change their effort levels.
Nadler and Lawler suggest a series of steps for managers in
applying the basic ideas of the theory:
• They should determine the primary outcomes that each employee
likely desires. 29
Motivation and • They should decide what kind and levels of performance are needed
Leadership
to meet organizational goals.
• They should ascertain that the desired levels of performance are
attainable
• They should ensure that desired outcomes and performance are
linked.
• They should also analyze the complete work situation for conflicting
expectancies.
• They should make sure that the rewards are large enough.
• They should make sure that the overall system is equitable for
everyone.
31
Motivation and Once the knowledge of the results of their work (i.e., feedback) is
Leadership
known to employees periodically, they shall be able to realize their
shortcomings and errorts, and adjust their work behavior according
to meet the expected output. Feedback helps in as much as is it
keeps an employee's goal-directed behavior on target and stimulates
him/her to put in greater efforts.
Overall, goal specificity, difficulty, acceptance and commitment
combine to determine an individual's goal-directed effort, Such
effort, when complemented with organizational support, and
individual abilities and traits, would result in performance.
Performance, when linked with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards
results in employee satisfaction. This entire process is depicted in
Figure 6.
Goal Organizatio Intrinsic
Goal Acceptan nal Support
Difficulty Rewards
ce
Satisfacti
Goal- Performan
Directed ce
Effort Extrinsic
Goal Rewards
Specificit
Individual
Goal Abilities &
Commitm Traits
9.5 SUMMARY
Motivation is an internal state or condition that serves to activate
or energize a particular behavior and gives it direction. It may be intrinsic
32
(internal) or extrinsic (external). We have introduced several theories Motivation
34
UNIT 10 MOTIVATION:PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
· Understand the applications of need-based theories of motivation
· Understand the applications of expectancy theory of motivation
· Understand the applications of goal setting theory of motivation
Structure
10.1 Applications of need-based theories
10.2 Applications of expectancy theory : Goal alignment
10.3 Models of Organisational Behaviour
10.4 Summary
10.5 Self Assessment Test
10.6 Case Study
10.7 Further Readings
45
Motivation and
Leadership Skill Variety Experienced
Task Identity Meaningfulne Work
ss
Task Motivation
Significance Growth
Satisfaction
Experienced
General
Responsibility Satisfaction
Autonomy Low
Absenteeism
& Turnover
Knowledge
of
Feedback Results
47
Motivation and • Experienced Meaningfulness: This cognitive state involves the
Leadership
degree to which employees perceive their work as making a valued
contribution, and as being important and worthwhile.
• Experienced Responsibility : This state is concerned with the extent
to which employees feel personally responsible or accountable for
the work being done. Responsibility is derived from autonomy; if
the job provides substantial freedom, it would render independence
and discretion to the individual employee in scheduling the work
and in determining the procedures to be used in carrying it out.
• Knowledge of results: Coming directly from feedback, this
psychological state involves the degree to which employees
understand how they are performing in the job. This can be anything
from production figures through to customer satisfaction scores.
The point is that the feedback offers information that once you
know, you can do things differently if you wish.
The job Characteristics Model says that certain job characteristics
lead to critical psychological states. In other words, skill variety,
task identity, and task significance lead to experienced
meaningfulness; autonomy leads to the feeling of responsibility;
and feedback leads to knowledge of results (refer to Fig. 1). The
more these three psychological states are present, the more
employees would feel good about themselves when they perform
well. The model postulates that internal rewards are obtained by
an individual when he learns (i.e., knowledge of results) that he
personally (i.e., experienced responsibility) has performed well on
a task that he cares about (i.e., experienced meaningfulness). These
internal rewards are reinforcing to employees, causing them to
perform well. If employees do not perform well, they will try harder
in order to get the internal rewards that good performance brings.
The net result, thus, is a "self-perpetuating cycle of positive work
motivation powered by self-generated rewards" . This cycle would
continue until one or more of the three psychological states is no
longer present, or until the individual no longer values the internal
rewards that are derived from good performance.
v. Autonomous Work Groups
Twenty-first century organizations are "right-sizing" by becoming
learner and removing layers in the middle management. Work
48
groups have thus been given the full responsibility of particular Motivation : Practical
Applications
tasks and granted freedom to make decisions. Thus the practice
of having autonomous work groups has evolved. Similar to the
concept of an individual with autonomy at work, an autonomous
work group is a team of employees who have been granted
autonomy or independence over the work they do within an
organization. The underlying philosophy is that autonomy
generally comes with complete independence in activity and not
through periodic monitoring and evaluation from a supervisor
or team leader. Such autonomy includes independent decision-
making related to a specific work function, project or job, and
independent freedom to assign individual members specific tasks
within the group.
The general purpose of using such work groups is that several
individuals working together on a common task or towards a
project goal should logically come up with better ideas that one
person working alone. Other benefits of autonomous work groups
may include sharing of responsibilities, learning to work in a
group, and growing a sense of belongingness, all of which are
important elements of motivation of the job.
Despite their prevalence, autonomous work groups suffer from
some serious drawbacks. With complete independence bestowed
on them, work group members may take work at a moderate pace.
Groups may lack cohesiveness, with members fighting over
control and recognition. Resistance to change is another
significant disadvantage.
54
Motivation : Practical
Superv
Joint Applications
isor Subordin
Joint Review
Establish ate and
ment of Performs Recycli
Personal Task and ng of
Goals Supervis MBO
Subordi or Process
nate
Figure 3 : Comprehensive View of MBO
Figure 3 shows a comprehensive view of MBO. The concept is
consistent with the notion of goal setting and its associated principles
discussed above. It is evident from the figure that joint discussions
between supervisor and subordinate are designed to extend
participation right from the point of establishing initial goals to the
point of evaluating results in terms of goal attainment. In addition to
these goal-setting steps, a successful MBO system calls for careful
implementation. Not only must workers have the freedom to carry out
the required tasks, but managers also should be prepared to actively
support their efforts to achieve the agreed-upon goals. .
Limitations of MBO
In general, and specifically as an application of the goal -setting
theory. MBO has several applications in organizations. However, the
process suffers from several limitations. In fact , several firms have
started and dropped the approach because of the difficulties
experienced . Among the specific problems, MBO often requires too
much paperwork in documenting goals and accomplishments; it also
lays too much emphasis on goal-oriented rewards and punishments,
top- down goals, goals that are easily stated in objective terms, and
individual instead of group goals. One of the major weaknesses often
associated with MBO is poor planning of the program prior to its
implementation; MBO cannot give results if those who are expected to
set the goals are not provided with operational guidelines
This apart, demerits of MBO include difficulty in setting tangible
goals, danger of inflexibility, and difficulty in considering goals that
are non quantifiable in nature. It has also been observed in several
instances that MBO may not yield expected results if it has been
implemented on a limited span. Thus, if it is to work well, MBO also
may need to be implemented across the organization-wide.
55
Motivation and
Leadership 10.4 SUMMARY
Motivating employees has become one of the most significant and
most demanding activities for any organization, and hence organizations
invest in effectual strategies to motivate their workforce. Flexitime is one
of the applications of need-based theories to motivate the new are
workforce. It includes compressed work weeks, flexible working hours,
job sharing, work at home, and part-time work. Such plans are designed
to influence employee satisfaction and to help employees balance the
demands of their work and non-work lives. Flexible benefits as another
application of need-based theories individualise rewards by allowing each
employee to choose that compensation package which best satisfies his/
her current needs. Job redesigning involves alteration of specific jobs with
the purpose of improving both productivity and work experiences of
employees. The main ways of job redesigning are job rotation, job
enlargement, job enrichment, and task design. Expectancy theory can be
used in pairing of individual and organizational goals, which enhances a
manager's understanding of valence, as it pertains to individual
employees, and enables him/her to use this understanding to motivate
employees on the job. MBO is a systematic and organized approach that
allows the management to set specific goals with the cooperation of
employees for an explicit time period with feedback on goal progress.
57
Motivation and
Leadership UNIT 11 LEADERSHIP
Summary
A leader is one who influences behaviour of individuals, acquires
over others and the followers accept the directives and control of the leader.
Thus, leadership is the ability to atract others and the potential to make
them follow instructions. We have discussed various styles of leadership
such as Autocratic style of leadership which proposes that a leader has
all the powers to make decision and authority is centered in the leader.
Democratic or participative style of leadership is a style of leadership
where leaders their groups and consider their opinion in the decision
making process. Laisses-faire, also known as free rein style is a type of
leadership in which there is complete delegation of authority to
subordinates.who make decision by themselves. Bureaucratic style of
leadership emphasizes on the rules and regulations of an organization,
whereas Manipulative leaders manipulates employees to attain their
assigned task Participative leaders follow the philosophy that happy
employees work better and harder, therefore they treat all its employees
as family member. Expert leadership is a result of the complex structure
of modern organization and is based on the ability, knowledge and
58 competence of the leaders. We have also introduced behavioral theories
of leadership which focuses on specific behaviours of leaders (including Leadership
to have more charisma and posses some qualities that are more valued
and admired by others in the organization.
iii. Internalization : Internalization occurs when followers are
convinced that acting in a particular way as directed by the leader
is in their own interests. This represents the highest level, wherein
the amount of influence exerted by the managers is very limited.
Because of their trust in the leader's judgment and expertise,
employees tend to believe that the type of action they have been
asked to do will be providing more benefits in future. Having
"internalized" the values or opinions of the leader, the employees
willingly do whatever needs to be done.
Features of Leadership
Leaders are people who are able to influence the behavior of others
without recourse to threats or coercion or any other form of force
towards them. They are accepted by other individuals as a person
superior to them. Leadership is the process of influencing others to get
a job done more effectively over a sustained period of time. Following
are the features of leadership:
• Leadership is a continuous process of influencing behaviors of
individuals of an organization.
• Leadership uses non-coercive methods to direct and coordinate
the activities of individuals of an organization.
• Leadership directs individuals to attain the tasks assigned to them
by following the instructions of their leaders.
• A leader possesses qualities to influence others.
• Leadership gives followers a vision for future.
• Leadership is a group activity. A leader influences his/her followers
and followers also exercise influence over their leader.
• Leadership is meant for a given situation and a given group for a
pre-determined period of time.
Importance of Leadership
Leadership is an important function of management which helps
an organization to maximize efficiency and to achieve pre-determined
goals In a competitive business environment, effective leadership is an
essential requirement to attain success and stability. Whatever is the
type or size of business, leaders must be able to provide inspiration,
61
Motivation and motivation and clear direction to their team. In the absence of effective
Leadership
leadership, organizations are often found to grow slowly and may run
the risk of losing their direction and competitive edge in the market. The
following points justify the importance of leadership in an organization:
• A leader should act as a friend of the people who are being lead. An
open and engaging relationship between a leader and his/her team
members is demonstrative of the fact that they are valued as an
integral part of the organization. This creates a sense of ownership
among team members and develops a closer alignment between
individual and organizational objectives.
• A leader must have the capacity to recognize the potentials of
individuals and transform such potentials into realities. A leader
should also be able to motivate his/her followers to achieve their
goals.
• A leader should have the confidence of the followers. Good business
leadership can help a team remain focused during a time of business
crisis; a leader can play a crucial role at such times, reminding the
team members of their achievements and encouraging them to set
short term, achievable goals.
• A leader must be able to unite the people as a team and build up
team spirit. He/she must encourage the team members to openly
contribute and discuss new ideas in a positive environment. This
would ensure utilization of the diverse experience and ideas of the
workforce and may play a crucial role in improving a business. At
the same time, a leader should be able to maintain discipline among
the group members and develop a sense of responsibility in them.
• A leader must be able to build up high morale among the individuals
of the organization and maintain ethical standards among them.
The level of commitment and degree of enthusiasm of a business
leader shapes the common goals of the organization and provides
inspiration and motivation for people to perform at a high level.
• A leader should act as a link between the various work groups and
the forces external to the organization.
Difference between Leadership and Management
Leading and managing go together, in fact, many tend to use these
terms interchangeably. Yet they are distinct from each other and some
differences exist between the two. The distinction between leadership and
62
management is quite useful in gaining a better understanding of these Leadership
leaders give more freedom to their group members, the latter feel
that their opinions are honored and that they are given
importance. This develops a sense of confidence among
subordinates and they derive job satisfaction. Participative
decision making improves the quality of a decision as it is taken
after due consideration of the valued opinions of the talented
group members.
The biggest demerit of this type of leadership is that it takes more
time to arrive at a decision, as a lot of time is wasted in collecting
the opinions of employees.
III. Laissez-faire or Free Rein
In this type of leadership, there is virtual absence of direct
leadership, and hence it is often regarded as "no leadership at
all". There is complete delegation of authority to subordinates,
who can make decisions by themselves. Absence of leadership
may have both positive and negative effects. It can be effective if
members of the groups are highly committed to their work. The
negative aspect is that the leader is not competent enough to lead
his group effectively. Further, members may feel insecure and
develop frustration due to lack of decision making authority.
IV. Bureaucratic
This type of leadership emphasizes on the rules and regulations
of an organization. The behavior of the leader is determined
largely by the rules, regulations and procedures to be followed
under his leadership, and both the leader and his subordinates
adhere to these rules and regulations. Therefore, there is no
difference between management and administration in this type
of leadership. The employees have little to do theselves ; it is the
rules that determine their performance.
V. Manipulative
This type of leadership manipulates employees to attain their
assigned tasks. A manipulative leader is quite selfish and exploits
the aspirations of the employees for his gains. He knows very
well the needs and desires of the employees but he does very
little to fulfill them. Due to such attitude, he has to face the hatred
of the employees at times.
65
Motivation and VI. Paternalistic
Leadership
A paternalistic leader believes in the philosophy that happy
employees work better and harder. Such leadership maintains that
fatherly altitude is the right one for better relationship between a
manager and employees. Everyone within the organization should
work together like a family.
VII. Expert Leadership
The expert leadership emerged as a result of the complex structure
of modern organizations. This type of leadership is based on the
ability, knowledge and competence of the leaders. An expert leader
handles the situation skillfully with his talent. The employees, on
the other hand, feel relieved as they are working under a person
who is an expert and can handle a situation without any problem.
Activity
Describe any leader or manager who, according to you, is
unenthusiastic. What effects can such lack of enthusiasm have on
the group members?.
How would you characterize the leadership style of your favorite
business leader?
The next question that would come up quite obviously is: which of
the above styles should a leader adopt? In modern organizations, human
resources vary in terms of skills, knowledge, competences and their
attitude towards the organization. They exhibit different behaviors as
they differ in attitude. A manager must understand such varied types of
behavior of his employees and accordingly can make use of the various
styles. He/she should also assess the situation and adopt that style of
leadership, which best suits that situation. In other words, leadership is
situational. If the situation changes, the style of leadership also changes.
A successful leader is thus one who assesses the situation appropriately,
studies the behavior of the subordinates, and adopts the most useful style
of leadership to lead the people at work towards accomplishment of
organizational goals.
67
Motivation and • Some traits may not be inherited, but can only be acquired over
Leadership
time through training.
• This approach does not identify those traits that are the most or
the least important for a successful leader.
• A leader may fail in spite of possessing the required traits. This
approach cannot explain such leadership failures.
• It has been found that many traits exhibited by leaders are also
found among followers. The trait approach fails to explain why
followers could not become leaders.
• It may often be difficult to define traits in absolute terms.
Overall it can be said that while traits do differentiate leaders from
non-leaders, they do not distinguish between effective and ineffective
leaders. Merely possessing the correct traits do not make a leader
automatically successful. The trait theory has hence been criticised for
lack of conclusiveness and predictability.
ACTIVITY
You are the Vice President of a retail major. You have been given the
responsibility of hiring zonal heads for your company. Would you follow
the trait approach to leadership when hiring a person for a leadership
position? What problems can be encountered?
69
Motivation and • The capacity to exercise a relatively high level of imagination,
Leadership
ingenuity and creativity in population, and the intellectual
potentialities of the average human being are only partially utilized
under the conditions of modern industrial life.
It can therefore be seen that a leader holding Theory X assumptions
would prefer an autocratic style, whereas one holding Theory Y
assumptions would prefer a more participative style.
The Ohio State Studies
Initiated in the late 1940s, the Ohio State Studies attempted to find
which behaviors substantially accounted for most of the leadership
behaviours described by employees. Beginning with over a thousand
dimensions, researchers finally narrowed the list down to two behaviors,
namely :
Initiating Structure : This dimension refers to the extent to which a leader
is likely to define and structure his/her role and those of employees in the
search for goal attainment. In initiating structure behavior, a leader clearly
defines the leader-subordinate roles, so that everyone knows what is
expected from him/her. The leader also establishes formal lines of
communication and determines how tasks will be performed. It includes
behavior that attempts to organize work, work relationships, and goals.
Consideration : This dimension is the extent to which a person is likely to
have job relationships that are characterized by mutual trust, respect for
employees' ideas, and regard for their feelings.and attempts to establish
a warm, friendly and supportive behavior. People who are high in
consideration show concern for followers' comfort, well being, status, and
satisfaction.
Both initiating-structure and consideration were found to be
associated with effective leadership. Leaders who were high in initiating
structure typically had higher levels of group and organization
productivity, besides more positive performance evaluations. Followers
of leaders who are high in consideration were more satisfied with their
jobs, were more motivated, and had more respect for their leader.
Activity
This activity would need two people, one as the supervisor and the
other as the subordinate. The subordinate has an ailing parent at
home, and very often comes late to work. However, he is a good
performer. Think of a high-consideration behavior that the supervisor
can show. What can be the reaction of the subordinate to his/her
behavior?
70
The University of Michigan Studies Leadership
C 9
(1, 9) (9, 9)
o Country Team
n Club Leadership
c
e 7
r
n 6
f (5, 5)
5 Middle-of-
o
r the-Road
P 4
e
o 3
p (1, 1) (9, 1)
l 2
Impoverishe Produce or
e d Perish
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Concern for Production
Figure 1 : Managerial Grid
Critical Appraisal of Behavioral Theories of Leadership
The behaviral theories promote the notion of leadership styles fo-
cusing on concern for people and collaboration. These theories help man-
agers evaluate and understand how their behavioral style as a manager
affects their relationship with their teams and enhances commitment and
contribution towards organizational goals. Managers can hence find the
right balance between the different styles of leadership, emphasizing on
concerns for people and for productivity. The practical application of the
behavioral theories is that behaviors of leaders affect their performance
and different leadership behaviors could be appropriate at different times.
The best leaders are those who have the a daptability to change their
behavioral style, and choose the right style suitable for each situation.
74
Further, according to the behavioral theories, people can learn to be- Leadership
75
Motivation and
Leadership 11.6 CASE STUDY
Leadership Traits and Behaviors
Consumer's Heaven Ltd. is a medium-sized manufacturer of con-
sumer products. Mr. ABC was a plant manager in the company who was
liked by the employees. Mr. ABC believed it is important to treat employ-
ees properly so that they would have a sense of loyalty. Hence he regu-
larly arranged picnics. holiday parties and other recreational programs
for the plant employees. However, under him, the plant recorded the lowest
turnover in 2011, and the worst record for costs and production levels
among all the plants of Consumer's Heaven. Mr. ABC was asked by the
Vice President to take early retirement and Mr. XYZ replaced him. Mr.
XYZ had a "reputation" as a manager who could get things done. He be-
lieved that if workers did not want to work, the company should sum-
marily get rid of them. Immediately after he joined. Mr. XYZ held a meet-
ing with the supervisors, and instructed them to establish high-perfor-
mance standards. Costs were cut down by trimming the expenses on pic-
nics and parties.
Questions
Q.1 Compare the leadership traits and behaviors of Mr. ABC and Mr.
XYZ.
Q.2 Which leader do you think is more effective? Why? As an employee
of this company, which manager would you prefer to work under?
76
UNIT - 12 LEADERSHIP : CONTINGENCY
PERSPECTIVES
Objectives:
After reading this chapter you will be able to :
• Learn Path-goal theory
• Understand the various models of leadership
• Understand the concept of transitional and transformational
leadership
Structure
12.1 Path-goal theory
12.2 The Hersey-Blanchard Model of leadership
12.3 Fiedler's Contingency Model
12.4 Transitional and transformational leadership
12.5 Summary
12.6 Self Assessment Test
12.7 Case Study
12.8 Further Readings
88
Leadership
Contingency
Idealized Intellectual perspectives
Influence Stimulatio
n
Transformationa
l Leadership
Inspiration Individualiz
al ed
Motivation Considerati
12.5 SUMMARY
The path-goal theory, originally formulated by Robert J. House in
1971, comes under the contingency perspective of leadership, which posits
that there is no one best way to lead in all the situations. The leader's job
is to provide followers with information, support, or other resources
necessary for them to achieve their goals. The path goal theory is composed
of two basic propositions, namely, role of the leader and dynamics of the
situation. The Hersey-Blanchard Leadership Model also takes a situational
perspective of leadership, in which it is proposed that successful
leadership is achieved by selecting the right leadership style, which is
contingent on followers' maturity (or readiness or developmental levell).
It is followers who accept or reject a leader, so that they are important
factors in a leader's success. Fiedler's Contingency Model postulates that
there is no single best way for managers to lead; situations will create
different leadership style requirements for a manager. The model predicts
work group effectiveness by taking into consideration the best fit between
two factors: leadership style and situational favorableness, or degree of
favorableness of the situation. Transformational approach to leadership
rests on change and the role of leadership in envisioning and implementing
the transformation of organizational performance. Transitional leadership
encompssses alal aspects of leadership theories and styles and proposes
that a leader can transition from one theory or a particular leadership
style to another as the situation demands.
92
93
U.P.Rajarshi Tandon Open MBA-1.2
University, Allahabad ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Block
4
Group Dynamics and Culture
Unit 13 5
Groups in Organizations
Unit 14 21
Group Performance
Unit 15 37
Transactional Analysis
Unit 16 54
Organizational Culture
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BLOCK -4 Group Dynamics and Culture
Introduction:
Block four comprises four units, Unit thirteen deals with groups
in organisation, Unit fourteen deals with group performance, unit
fifteen deals with transactional analysis while unit sixteen deals with
organisational culture.
4
UNIT 13 Groups in Organizations
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
· Understand the concept of groups in organizations
· Learn about group membership
· Learn about group structures and norms
· Learn about group cohesiveness
Structure
13.1 Concept of group
13.2 Group membership
13.3 Group structure and norms
13.4 Group cohesiveness
13.5 Summary
13.6 Self-assessment Test
13.7 Case Study
13.8 Further Readings
8
• Functional or Formal Groups : Functional groups or formal Groups in
Organizations
groups are the groups formed to accomplish different
organizational purposes. In fact, if a group is formed in an
organization by a manager to help the organization accomplish
its goals, then it qualifies as a formal group. Such groups are
expected to accomplish specific goals within an unspecified time
frame. Activities of the members of formal groups are planned
by others to achieve a common purpose. These groups are
permanent in nature and they remain in existence after the
achievement of the current goals and objectives. They have to
follow the rules, regulations and policies of the organization .
Formal groups typically wear such labels as work group, team,
committee, or task force. Formal groups fulfill two basic
functions: organizational and individual. Examples of a formal
organizational group include departments such as the HR
Department, the Marketing Department, and the Production
Department. Following are the types of formal groups in an
organization:
o Task Groups : Tasks groups are the groups formed by an
organization to accomplish a narrow range of purposes within a
specified time or have the responsibility for making a specific
contribution to the goals of the parent organization. The
dictionary definition of task group is a temporary grouping of
individuals and resources for the accomplishment of a specific
objective. These groups are usually temporary in nature. They
also develop a solution to a problem or complete its purpose;.
Task groups are also commonly referred to as task forces. Though
they are generally oriented to short-term tasks like preparing for
launching of a new product, some task groups may also pursue
ongoing responsibilities or continuing tasks, such as grievance
handling procedure. Informal committees, task forces and work
teams come under task groups.
A task group consists of people who work together to achieve a
common task. The organization appoints members and assigns
a narrow set of goals and tasks to be accomplished, such as
development of a new product, improvement of quality control,
evaluation of a proposed handling grievance procedure etc.
9
Group Dynamics o Command Groups : Command groups consist of a supervisor and
and Culture
subordinates who report directly to that supervisor. These groups
are specified by the organizational chart and managers of command
groups can legitimately give orders to others. An example of a
command group is the head of the department in an educational
institute and the faculty members in that department.
• Informal Groups : In contrast to formal groups, informal groups
are formed naturally for purposes other than organizational goals
without a specified time frame and in response to the common
interests and shared values of individuals. The seeds of such groups
are laid when individuals in an organization are drawn together
by friendship, common interests, similar background, etc. Informal
groups are not appointed by the organization ; they are spontaneous
and members can invite others to join from time to time
Informal groups can have a strong influence in organizations, with
both positive and negative impacts, These groups work as an
informal communication network thus being a part of the
"grapevine" in organizations. They are also like a powerful and
influential force, which no organization can afford to avoid.
Managers often have contrasting opinion about informal groups.
While some managers consider these groups to be detrimental to
the interest of an organization, others may even seek the help of
such groups in getting crucial tasks accomplished. Informal groups
can take the form of interest groups, friendship groups, or reference
groups, discussed below.
o Interest Group : Interest groups are the groups formed to attain a
common purpose and comprise people drawn or acting together in
support of a common interest or to voice a common concern.
Interest groups are usually non-profit and voluntary organizations
whose members have a common cause for which they seek to
influence public policy, without seeking any kind of political control
However, in an organizational set up, employees coming together
for common causes like increase in salary, payment of allowances
and other facilities are examples of interest groups.
Interest groups are not temporary structures they usually continue
over time, What makes these groups more interesting is their
composition: members of interest groups may not be part of the
10
same organizational department, but they are woven together Groups in
Organizations
by some common interest. As is obvious, the goals and objectives
are specific to each group and may not be even distantly related
to overall organizational goals and objectives.
o Membership Group : Membership groups are groups of
individuals who belong to the same profession and know each
other. For example, teachers of faculty of management in a
university.
o Friendship Group : Friendship groups are groups of individuals
belonging to same age group, having similar political beliefs,
religious values, or the same views and opinions. Friendship
groups develop among the members of the same organization
when they share some common interests like sports or politics.
These groups can also be formed outside the organization, and
can be in the form of clubs and associations.
o Reference Group : Reference groups are groups in which
individuals shape their ideas, beliefs, values etc. and are used by
people to evaluate themselves. What makes reference groups
different from the other informal groups is that these groups may
not actually meet or be formed volumatrily. Surprisingly,
individuals believe they belong to a particular reference group,
whether or not they actually do, and individuals usually seek
support from the group. Family and friends are examples of
reference groups for most individuals.
Relationship of individuals to their reference group may
influence their behavior. Individuals compare themselves with
other members of the group, and are able to assess whether their
behavior is acceptable or not. For example, if a man buys a more
expensive mobile handset than he normally would because his
friends use that particular handset then his buying behavior is
influenced by his reference group (i.e., friends).
The main purposes of reference groups are social validation and
social comparison. Social validation enables individuals to justify
their attitudes and values while social comparison helps
individuals in evaluating their own actions by comparing
themselves to others.
11
Group Dynamics Activity
and Culture
Have you seen supervisors friendly with their team members?
Do you think formal and informal groups can overlap?
13.5 SUMMARY
In an organizational context, a group is a collection of two or more
individuals who are mutually dependent on one another to achieve
common goals, and interact with each other for the purpose of attaining
such goals or objectives. Such a group may be formal or informal by
nature. Formal group can be of two types: task group and command
group. and informal groups can take the form of interest groups,
friendship groups, or reference groups. Group structure refers to the
pattern of inter-relationships that exist among the group members, and
makes the group function in an orderly and predictable manner. The
important components of group structure are group composition, norms,
status, emergent leaders, role definition, and group cohesiveness. Role is
the typical part played by an individual group member in accordance
with the expectations of the other members from him/her. Norms refer
to the rules and mutual expectations that develop within the group. Status
is the relative prestige or social position given to groups or individuals
by others. Group cohesiveness refers to the strength of group members'
desires to remain as a part of the group . Group cohesiveness brings with
itself several advantages likes greater interaction between members,
mutual help and cooperation, lower turnover and absenteeism, and even
higher production.
19
Group Dynamics
and Culture 13.8 FURTHER READINGS
Kreitner, Robert, Kinicki, Angelo, Organizational behavior, 9th
Edition, McGraw Hill.
Margie Parikh, Rajen Gupta, Organizational Behavior, Tata
McGraw Hill.
Fred Luthans, Organizational Behavior, McGraw Hill.
20
UNIT 14 : GROUP PERFORMANCE
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
• Understand the concept of Conformity and Deviance in context
of Group Performance
• Learn about Group Processes
• Learn about Group Decision Making
Structure
14.1 Conformity and Deviance
14.2 Group Processes
14.3 Group Decision Making
14.4 Summary
14.5 Self Assessment Test
14.6 Case Study
14.7 Further Readings
between two actions: one that the voters support and another action.
An individual conforms if he/she chooses that course of action which is
socially acceptable or which the majority favours. In contrast, an
individual deviates if he/she chooses an action that is either not socially
acceptable or that is not favored by the majority. For example, your
organization has lunch break from 1 to 2 pm every day. If you have your
lunch in this scheduled break, you are conforming to the norm of your
larger organizational group. However, every time you leave your work
and go off for luch before 1 pm or finish your lunch after 2 pm, you
would be deviating from the norm. It is thus obvious that any action
that an individual takes under such circumstances is necessarily either
conformity or deviance.
It may seem to you that conformity is good and deviance is bad.
However, neither conformity nor deviance is inherently good or bad.
Let us explain how. An individualmay conform to a group norm of
honesty and righteousness; this is a case of good conformity. An
individual may conform to a group norm of late reporting on duty, which
is an example of bad conformity. He/she could also deviate from a group
which indulges into unethical activities; this would be good deviance.
Deviance from a group norm of honesty is a bad deviate. Thus you can
see that contrary to popular beliefs, neither conformity nor deviance is
inherently good or bad. However, if we consider the reason behind the
action and not the action in itself (say, conforing to a group norm of
honesty and righteousness), then we may be able to ascertain whether
the reason is good or bad. Thus scientists differentiate between the
ways in which people conform or deviate as good or bad, not their
actions of conformity or deviance.
Kelman distinghished between three different types of
conformity; compliance, internalization and identification. Let us explain
each of these terms in this context now. For example, if an individual
conforms to a group norm of honesty and righteousness not out of own
conviction, but only to go along with the group, then this kind of
conformity is considered to be undesirable and it would tantamount to
mere compliance. It occurs when the member who complies simply does
whatever he/she thinks the group wants him/her to do and publicly agree
with the group. However, internally the individual maintains his/her
original views. Compliance occurs to gain specific reward or approval
or simply to avoid punishment or disapproval from the group, and is 23
Group Dynamics usually bad for a group. Internalization occurs when an individual takes
and Culture
on the views of his/her group both publicly and privately mainly because
such views match their own value system. Finally, identification occurs
when an individual conforms to the role that society expects him/her to
play.
Deviance, on the other hand, can lead to conflicts within a group.
There are two types of group conflicts: constructive conflict and
destructive conflict. Constructive conflict occurs when group members
carefully weigh the strengths and weaknesses of proposals. The benefits
of such conflict exceed its costs, i.e. the outcome is mutually beneficial
and shared decisions. In constructive conflicts, the process assumes as
much importance as the end result. In contrast, destructive conflict occurs
when members ignore the best interest of the group, Such conflict often
emerges from narrowly defined or rigit goals and most often produces
negative outcomes. Individuals involved in the conflict act in such a way
as to defeat the opposing party. The end result is thus personal attacks,
threats and hostility, leading to commotion and delay in any decision.
To summarize we may say that it would be perhaps wrong to
evaluate conformity and deviance as negative behaviors. Both have shades
of black and white, with good and bad types of both conformity and
deviance. As we have explained earlier, onformity is usually good for a
group when all members privately accept the choice of the majority.
Deviance can be healthy for groups as well especially when the deviants
yield innovative perspectives to a situation.
Activity
Imagine yourself to be a part of a group of employees. Give examples
of the following:
* How "good" conformity can occur when you privately accept your
group's beliefs?
* How "bad" conformity may occur when you voice what your group
wants you to?
* How "good" deviance may occur when you give new ideas to the
group?
* How "bad" deviance occurs when you refuse to participate in the
group?
24
Groups
14.2 GROUP PROCESSES Performance
Group think
A serious problem in group decision making, identified by social
psychologist Irving Janis, is the tendency of the members of highly
cohesive groups to lose their critical evaluative capabilities, thus bringing
individual thinking in line with group thinking. This problem is
commonly known as groupthink or leveling effect. According to Janis,
since highly cohesive groups demand conformity, their members tend
to be more and more unwilling to criticize each other's ideas and
suggestions; solidarity is given so much importance that the group fails
to cricically evaluate its own decisions. Thus in groupthink the norm
for consensus in a decision dominates realistic and critical appraisal of
alternative courses of action. As it implied, under such circumstances,
an individual member's mental faculty and power of judgement
deteriorate due to group pressures. With little room for deviants to
express their dissent on any issue and to avoid unpleasant
disagreements, groupthink leads to undue emphasis on agreement and
under emphasis on critical discussion. The end result is hence a poor
decision.
According to Janis, groups which suffer from the phenomenon of
groupthink may exhibit the following symptoms:
* Illusion of Invulnerability : Members tend to ignore obvious
danger, take extreme risk, and are excessively optimistic.
* Collective Rationalization : Group members collectively
rationalize any resistance to the assumptions they have made.
No matter how strong the evidences are contradictory to their
basic assumptions members behave in such a way as to reinforce
those assumptions continually. They also dishonor and explain
away warning contrary to group thinking.
* Illusion of Morality : Members have unquestioned belief that
their decisions are morally correct, and hence tend to ignore the
ethical consequences of their decisions.
* Excessive Stereotyping : The group constructs negative
stereotypes of rivals ouside the group.
* Pressure for Conformity : Members apply direct pressure on
anyone in the group who expresses doubts or arguments against
25
Group Dynamics the group's shared views, steriotypes, illusions, or commitments,
and Culture
mainly because they consider such opposition as disloyalty.
* Self-Censorship : Members withhold their dissenting views and
couner-arguments.
* Illusion of Unanimity : Members suffer from the wrong assumption
that silence implies dissent. In other words, if someone in the group
does not speak, it is assumed that he/she is in full accord with the
decision. Memberes perceive that everyone in the group agrees with
the group's decision. Hence there is a shared illusiosn of unanimity
among the members.
* Mindguards : Some members appoint their own selves to the role
of "mindguards", protecting the group from adverse information
that might threaten group compacency about the effectiveness and
morality of any decision taken by the group.
How to Avoid Groupthink
Given that teams have become an integral part of moder
organizations, groupthink is a major threat to organizations as it can
thwart the working of any team. There are several ways groupthink can
be avoided. The group should be made aware of the causes and possible
consequences of groupthink as a phenomenon. Group leaders and
responsible members must be on continuous vigil to identify the
symptoms of groupthink and take any necessary action to prevent its
occurrence. Group size must also be monitored. It is a normal tendency
that as group size increases, distance between the members also starts
increasing and members grow intimidated and hesitant. However, just
like there is no ideal upper limit to the size of a group, there is no magic
number of members in a group that will eliminate groupthink. The main
group may be split into subgroups to work on the same problem. Managers
should also encourage group leaders to play an impartial role. Leaders
should actively seek input from aall members and avoid expressing their
own opinions, especially I the early stages of deliberation.
Another thing is to assigning the role of d evil's advocate to some
strong members of the group mainly to explicitly challenge the majority
position and offer divergent perspectives to the decision being taken.
Further, the leader of the group should give high priority to and encourage
members to voice their objections and doubts; leaders must also be
accepting of criticism in a healthy spirit. Active discussion of diverse
26
alternatives must also be stimulated by taking care that the members Groups
Performance
do not perceive any threat. Once the members reach to a preliminary
consensus on a decision, sessions must be conducted to freely express
all residual doubts and the matter may be reconsidered if necessary.
Often the inclusion of external experts adds value to decision making
and helps reduce groupthink.
Group Shift
Also known as polarization, group shift is a process in which a
group may decide to adopt a riskier or more exaggerated approach to a
problem. What heppens is that the discussion leads to a significant
shift in the position of members towards a more extreme position in
the direction in which they were already heading before the discussion
had begun.. So conservative members become more cautious and the
more aggressive members take on more risk. The discussion tends to
exaggerate the initial position of the group.
Between more cautious and riskier approaches, there seems to
be a greater occurrence of the latter. This happens due to several reasons.
Usually discussion among the members creates familiarization among
them. and this familiarization increases the level of comfort that the
members share with each other. In the process, they also become more
daring. Let us explain the concept of shared risk that is responsible for
such a situation. A group normally diffuses responsibilities and group
decisions free any single members from accountability for a decision
that has taken by the group as a whole. A riskier approach may thus be
adopted because in case it is unsuccessful, the penalty is jointly shared
by the group instead of a single member to shoulder the burden. This
encourages the group members to be more daring in their decisions.
Another argument given by experts is that we admire individuals who
are willing to take risks, and that group discussion motivates members
to demonstrate that they are at least as willing as their other members
to take risks. However, the other extreme is also possible, when decisions
taken are overly cautious and minimal in risk, because members happen
to be risk averse.
Mamy experts propose group shift as a special case of groupthink.
Given that the decision of the group is reflective of the dominant
decision-making norm that develops during the discussions among the
members, whether the shift is towards greater caution or greater risk
would depend on the prevailing pre-discussion norm. 27
Group Dynamics
and Culture 14.3 GROUP DECISION MAKING
You must be familiar with decision making as a practice in varying
degrees from your daily life experiences. Decision making refers to the
process of choosing from among alternative courses of action, and can be
at either an individual or group level. Individual level decision making is
the most suitable for simplistic problems with ew altlernatives. It also
assumes that the individual making the decision has the knowledge and
expeertise needed to solve the problem. As per Robbins, group-level
decision making is the best when the problem is complex in nature, when
there are multiple alternatives from which to select, and the quality of the
decision is of paramount importance. So what is group decision making?
It is a type of participatory process in which several individuals act at a
collective level to analyze the problem, consider and evaluate the
alternative courses of action, and select the most viable solution(s) from
among those alternatives. Group decision making is increasingly being
adopted in all types of organizations mainly because of the fact that
groups better utilize the diverse talents, skills and knowledge of
organizational members, and can hence lead to more informed and better
quality decisions especially when solving complex problems.
The number of people involved in group decision making process
is found to vary, but most often it ranges from a minimum of two up to
seven. Groups involved in the process may be either formally designed
and charged with a specific goal or informal in nature. The process used
to arrive at the final decision may be unstructured or structured. Overall,
whatever be the number of members involved and the processes adopted,
the quality and timeliness of decisions made and the processes through
which they are arrived at the crucial indicators of group effectiveness.
How Groups Make Decisions
Edgar Schein, a noted academician and consultant, has worked at
length with groups to analyse and improve their decision making processes
on the basis of which he has proposed a model of team-decision making
which is widely applied. Schein observes that groups may make decisions
through any of the following six methods: lack of response, authority rule,
minority rule, majority rule, consensus, and unanimity. Let us describe
each of these mthods, with their respective strengths and pit falls.
* Lack of response : A decision by lack of response relies on a process
28 of elimination, in which one idea after the other is suggested without
any discussion taking place as such. The group listens to these Group Performance
ideas without voting, until it hits upon the one it finally accepts.
This way all other ideas are discarded by simple lack of response
rather than by their critical evaluation. Such a decision makaing
process is usually time consuming.
* Authority rule : In decision by authority rule, one individual,
usually the chairperson or manager or group leader makes a
decision for the group. A decisions can be arrived at with or
without discussion and this process is very time efficient, though
it seems to be as autocratic to many. The team must provide the
authority figure making the decision with ideas and information,
and this decides on the goodness of the decision.
* Minority rule : In decision by minority rule, two or three members
may be more empowered or may be simply more assertive, and
are able to dominate or "railroad" the majority into making a
decision to which they all agree. This is often done by providing
a suggestion and then reaching a quick agreement by challenging
the group with such state,emts as " "Does anayone object to this
decision?" No? Well, let's go ahead with it then." Such kind of
decision making is very common in the military. The pitfall with
this approach is that the decision is only as strong as the aurhority
making the decision.
* Majority rule : This is one of the most common ways by which
groups make decisions. Majority rule puts a decision up to vote,
or a poll of members may be conducted to find the majority
viewpoint. The final decision is on the basis of a simple majority
(more than 50 per cent) or a supermajority (three fifths or two
thirds). This method is similar to the democratic political system.
The biggest pitfall of this method is that thought it fosters strong
commitment from the majority, but it can lead to weak
commitment from the minority and resentments that continue
may weaken group effectivenesses in the long run.
* Consensus : Consensus refers to a state of affairs whereby
discussion leads to one alternative being favored by most of the
members and the other members agreeing to support it. When a
consensus is reached, even those in the minority who may have
opposed the chosen course of action know that they have been
listened to and have had a fair chance to influence the outcome; 29
Group Dynamics they ultimately support the final decision. According to Schein,
and Culture
consensus fosters exchange of information and hence ensures that
the decision is a well considered one.
* Unanimity : Unanimity represents the ideal state of affairs, in which
all group members agree completely upon a decision. This is a
"logically perfact" group decision making method, but is extremely
difficult to attain in reality and does not work with large teams.
Negative Aspects of Collaboration
Are the negative aspects of collaboration so severe that we should
avoid making decisions and working in groups? Groups and teams need
more time to process multiple piece of information and coordinate what
they know. Daniel Kaheman and colleagues also warn that when
committees and groups make recommendations, they've often found to
have "fallen in love" with a particular idea and are no longer thinking
rationally. These problems can be magnified when a group of people is
making a decision collectively. So what can managers do to minimize
these biases? The problems of coordination and collaboration suggest
that we should invoke group decision making only when it appears that
pooling information will lead to better decisions than individual decision
making. Exerts advise that decision receiving advice from teams should
always ask whether the team's recommendations contain any self-
interested biases. It is also important to see whether the team has
developed an emotional attachment to one course of action or has
succumbed to groupthink.
Can you think of any strategy that would have helped make the group
decision making process more efficient and accurate?
Can you think of a type of decision that is probably better made by an
individual than a group? What types of decisions should be made by
groups?
Adopted from : M.T. Hansen, "When Internal Collaboration Is Bad for
Your Company," Harvard Business Review (April 2009), pp. 82-88; D.
Kahneman, D. Lovallo, and O. Sibony, "Before You Make that Big
Decision," Harvard Business Review (June 2011), pp. 50-60; and E. Klein,
"Washington's Suicide Pact" Newsweek (March 21, 2011),
www.newsweek.com.
Methods of Group Decision Making
The group as a decision making resource has proven to be effectiive
30 time and again. However, group dynamics must be managed to ensure
balance between individual contributions and group operations. Groups Groups
Performance
adopt several methods of decision-making, some of which are discussed
as follows:
* The Devil's Advocacy Technique: This is a group decision-making
strategy designed to provide a group with a step-by-step process
to achieve consensus on a decision. It works in the following way
(Schweiger, Sandberg and Ragan, 1986):
1. The group as a whole (say, 6 people) is presented with a problem
to solve.
2. Next the group is subdivided into 2 equal subgroups (say, 3 people
in each subgroup 2).
3. Subgroup 1 (independent of subgroup 2) develops a plan to solve
the problem.
4. Once subgroup 1 has completed solving the problem, it presents
the plan to subgroup 2. Subgroup 2 listens to subgroup 1's plan
(note : subgroup 2 is not to develop its own plan to solve the
problem).
5. After subgroup 1 presents its plan, subgroup 2 offers a formal
critique of that plan.
6. Once subgroup 2 offers its critique, subgroup 1 (independent of
subgroup 2) gets together again and discusses and records any
changes th emembers feel should be made to the original plan as
a result of the inputs from subgroup 2.
7. Subgroup 1 then gets back together with subgroup2 to present
its lan with the changes, if any. At this point, the entire group (i.e.,
6 people) may be able to achieve consensus on the ifnal plan or
subgroup 2 may offer another critique , thus requiring subgroup1
to get back together again as a subgroup to discuss and record
any further changes to their plan. Subgroup 1 would then present
any additional changes to subgroup 2. This part of the process
may continue through several critiques and revisions until final
consensus can be arrived at.
* Brainstorming : Brainstorming is an activity that involves group
members verbally suggesting ideas or alternative courses of
action. Usually unstrucured, this method entails a detailed
description of the situation at hand so that the group members
have a complete understanding of the problem. The members
31
Group Dynamics actively and quickly generate as many ideas and alternatives as
and Culture
possible, without inhibitions. The group leader or facilitator then
solicits ideas from all of them. For the brainstorming process to be
effective, chances of all criticism are ruled out as no one is allowed
to judge or evaluate any idea until the idea generation process is
completed. The effectiveness of this process can also be enhanced
by "freewheeling", whereby emphasis is given on creativity and
imagination. Another ideology is that the greater the number of
ideas, the more likely a superior idea will emerge. Finally, in "piggy-
backing" everyone in the group is encouraged to suggest how others'
ideas can be turned into new ideas or how to combine two or more
ideas to get another new idea.
* Dialectical Inquiry : Dialectical inquiry, like Devil's Advocacy, is a
group decision making technique that is designed to provide
members with a systematic decision making process to enhance
expressions of cognitive conflict. Such conflict ultimately leads to
stronger group consensus and better quility decisions. This method
focuses on ensuring full consideration of the alternatives available
by dividing the group into opposing sides, which argue over the
advantages and disadvantages of proposed solutions or decisions.
In addition, this technique is designed to systematically increase
participation, similar to Devil's Advocacy, by providing group
members with clear roles in the decision making process. Many
consider this approach to be a more comprehensive method to
decision making than Devil's Advocacy mainly because it develops
two distinct plans from opposing sides that are debated and
ultimately sythesized into a final plan.
* Nominal Group Technique : The nominal group technique is a
structured decision making process in which the group members
are required to prepare privately a comprehensive list of their ideas
of proposed alternatives in writing. Once such lists are prepared,
each group member is asked, in turn, to provide one item from his/
her list until All the ideas or alternatives have been publicly
recorded. No criticism is allowed and it is ensured that everyone
present fully understands each response. A structured voting
procedure is then applied to prioritize the responses that have
emerged to the nominal question. The nominal group procedure is
useful as it allows ideas to be evaluated without inhibitions and
conflicts that are normal in an open meeting.
32
* Delphi Technique : Developed by the Rand Corporation, the Groups
Performance
Delphi technique is a group is a group decision-making process
that can be applied by decision making groups when the
individual members are in different physical locations and are
unable to meet face to face. The individuals in group are experts
or have specific knolwedge or expertise of the problem in hand.
In this technique a series of questionnaires are distributed to a
panel of such experts and each is asked to independently provide
ideas, input, and /or alternative solutions to the decision problem
in successive stages. The decision coordinator summarizes the
solutions and sends the summary back to the experts, along with
a follow-up questionnaire. The experts again send in their
responses, and the process is repeated until a consensus is reached
and a clear decision emerges.
* Computer-Mediated Decision Making : Information and
computer technologies enable group decision making ignoring
physical distances with the support of group decision support
systems. Electronic brainstorming is a typical example in which
special software enable participants to enter ideas at will, either
through simultaneous interactions or over a period of time. The
software finally collages all ideas and gives the results. Both the
Nominal Group and Delphi techniques can also be managed
through computers and networking. The biggest advantage of
electronic approaches to group decision making is saving time;
other benefits include generation of greater number of ideas,
efficiency of recording and storing data that may be retrieved in
future, and ability to manage large groups with members who
are geographically dispersed.
14.4 SUMMARY
Conformity means compliance with standards, rules, or laws. It
also implies adjusting one's behavior to align with the standards
of the group to which he/she belongs. Deviant behavior is work
behavior of employees found to range outside group norms like
organizational misbehavior, antisocial behavior, workplace
aggression, and a host of other retaliation behaviors. Groupthink
or leveling effect is bringing individual thinking in line with group
thinking. Under such circumstances, an individual member's
mental faculty and power of judgment deteriorates due to group 33
Group Dynamics pressures. In group shift (or polarization), a group may decide to
and Culture
adopt a riskier or more exaggerated approach to a problem .
Discussion leads to a significant shift in the position of members
towards a more extreme position in the direction in which they were
already heading before the discussion had begun. Group decision
making is a type of participatory process in which several
individuals act at a collective level to analyze the problem, consider
and evaluate the alternative courses of action, and select the most
viable solution(s) from among those alternatives. It is increasingly
being adopted in all types of organizations mainly because of the
fact that groups better utilize the diverse talents, skills and
knowledge of organizational members, and can hence lead to more
informed and better quality decisions especially when solving
complex problems.
36
UNIT - 15 TRANSACTIONAL ANALYSIS
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
• Understand the concept of transations and their role in social
interaction
• Learn various ego states
• Understand analysis of transactions
• Learn various life positions
Structure
15.1 Transactions as a unit of social interaction
15.2 Three ego states
15.3 Analysis of transactions
15.4 Life positions
15.5 Summary
15.6 Self Assessment Test
15.7 Case Study
15.8 Further Readings
P P
A A
C C
P P
A A
C C
43
Group Dynamics iii. Adult - Child Transactions
and Culture
This type of transaction is effective if Child ego is of little professor
category, in which employees can bring creativity at work. The manager
has to keep guiding and tolerating childlike behavior of employees which
is characterized by less control and lot of fun and enjoyment, which may
not be productive for the organization. Adult-child ego transaction is
shown in Figure 3.
P P
A A
C C
P P
A A
C C
P P
A A
C C
P P
A A
C C
P P
A A
C C
A A
C C
A A
C C
tries to deal with the employee on a Parent-to -Child basis, but the
employee responds on an Adult-to-Adult basis. When crossed
transactions occur, point out John Newstrom and Keith Davis,
communication tends to be blocked and a satisfactory transaction is
not accomplshed. Conflicts otten follow soon afterwards.
P P
A A
C C
15.5 SUMMARY
Developed by Eric Berne in the 1950s. Transactional Analysis is a
method of analysing and understanding interpersonal behaviors in
different situations. Berne posited that two people interact with each other
from one of three psychological positions, known as ego states. The Parent
ego state contains the values, morals, core beliefs and behaviors
incorporated from significant authority figures, primarily one's parents.
It is of two types: Nurturing Parent and Critical Parent. Child ego state
reflects the emotions developed in response to childhood experiences. It
is divided into Natural Child and Adapted Child. Adult ego state will
appear as rational, calculating factual, and an emotional behavior.
Complementary transactions happen when the ego states of the sender
and the receiver in the opening transaction are simply reversed in the
response. Non-complementary transactions, or crossed transactions,
occur when the stimulus and response lines are not parallel. Life Positions
are philosophy tends to remain with the person for a lifetime unless major
experiences occur to change. The four life positions are : (i) I am Okay you
are Okay, (ii) I am Okay you are not Okay, (iii) I am not Okay you are Okay,
(iv) I am not Okay you are not Okay. Stroking is any act of recognition for
another. It may either be positive, negative, or mixed . Our fundamental
belief system is formed through the process of deciding about ourselves
ad others, and this determines our patterns of thinking, feeling, and
behaving and develops into the roles of life script. Through a process
known as s cript analysis, one can know how he has acquired his life script
and he would be able to see more clearly his life roles.
53
Group Dynamics
and Culture UNIT - 16 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Objectives
After reading this chapter you will be able to
• Understand the concept of organizational culture
• Learn various dimensions of organizational culture
• Learn the process of development of organizational culture
• Learn about managing organizational culture
Structure
16.1 Concept of Definition of organizational Culture
16.2 Dimensions of Organizational Culture
16.3 Development of organizational culture
16.4 Managing organizational culture
16.5 Summary
16.6 Self Assessment Test
16.7 Case Study
16.8 Further Readings
55
Group Dynamics John van Maanen (1988) : "Culture refers to the knowledge members of a
and Culture
given groupare thought to more or less share; knowledge of the sort that
is said to inform, embed, shape, and account for the routine and not-so-
routine activities of the members of the culture. ... A culture is expressed
(or constituted) only through the actions and words of its members and
must be interpreted by, not given to, a fieldworker .... Culture is not itself
visible, but is made visible only through its representation."
Harrison Trice and Janice Beyer (1993) : "Cultures are collective
phenomena that embody people's responses to the uncertainties and chaos
that are inevitable in human experience. These responses fall into two
major categories. The first is the substance of a culture--- shared,
emotionally charged belief systems that we call ideologies. The second is
cultural forms - observable entities, including actions, through which
members of a culture express, affirm, and communicate the substance of
their culture to one another."
Harrison (1993): "Culture is the "distinctive constellation of beliefs,
workstyles, and relationships that distinguish one organization from
another." Thus organizational culture includes those qualities of the
organization that give it a particular climate or feel As a result the distinct
qualities of an organization may manifest through four dimensions,
namely power, role, achievement and support (Harrison 1993).
Brown (1998) : Organizational culture is "the pattern of beliefs, values
and learned ways of coping with experience that have developed during
the course of an organization's history, and which tend to be manifested
in its material arrangements and in the behaviours of its members". This
suggests that organizational culture is articulated in the organization, in
order to shape the way iin which its members should behave.
Martins and Martins (2003) give a general definition of
organizational culture as "a system of shared meaning held by members,
distinguishing the organization from other organizations". Arnold (2005)
indicates that "organizational culture is the distinctive norms, beliefs,
principles and ways of behaving that combine to give each organization
its distinct character". We can comprehend from these two definitions
that organizational culture distinguishes one organization from the other.
56
Thus organizational culture is to an organization what personality is to Organizational
Culture
an individual (Johnson, 1990).
Deal and Kennedy (1982) view the origin of organizational culture
from a national culture point of view and propose organizational culture
to be central to organizational success instead of factors like structure,
strategy or politics. Cartwright sees culture as a system of management
authority. When accepted by employes, cultural values increase the
power and authority of management in three ways. Employees identify
themselves with their organization and accept its rules when it is the
right thing to do'; they internalize the organizatio's values when they
believe thay are right; and are motivated to achieve the organization's
objectives.
A popular and simple way of defining culture is : 'how things are
done around here'. For example, Atkinson explains organizational culture
as reflecting the underlying assumptions about the way work is
performed; what is 'acceptable and not acceptable'; and what behavior
and actions are encouraged and discouraged.
Organizational culture is the system of shared action, values, and
beliefs that develops within an organization and guides the behavior of
its members . In a business set up , this system is often referred to as the
corporate culture. Just as no two individual ersonalities are the same,
no two organizational cultures are identical.
All the above concepts stress acceptables and unacceptable
behavior of the members. For instance one organization might value
solidarity and loyalty to organization more than any other value whereas
another organization might stress on good relations with customers.
Organizational culture is the set of values that states what an
organization stands for, how it operate and what it considers important.
Such values are part of organizational culture in spite of not being
formally written like rules and regulations of the organization. They do
not usually appear in the organizational training Program and in fact,
many organizations have difficulty in expresssing their cultural values.
However, an organizations values automatically enter every employee's
personal values and actions over a period of time. Organizational culture
has a profound influence on individual employees because it is generally
an accepted set of values rather than a written set of rules with which 57
Group Dynamics employees might not argue. Most significantly, management scholars and
and Culture
consultants increasingly believe that cultural differences can have a major
impact on the performance of organizations and the quality of work life
experienced by their members.
Activity
Divide your class into groups of four each Now try to identify a
set of characteristics that describe the culture of your college/university.
Compare the assessment of all groups How closely do they match?
Types of Organizational Culture
Spread across a wide span of time, several studies have focused on
typologies or classifications of organization culture and provide a broad
overview of the variations that exist between theorists in their depiction
of this concept . Let us discuss some of these types now. Deal and Kennedy
(1982) have identified four generic types of cutures to describe
organizational culture, namely tough-guy/macho culture, work-hard/play
hard culture, bet-your company culture, and process culture. Handy (1985)
describe organizational culture by using four types of classification,
namely power, role, task and person cultures. Scholtz (1987) have
identified five primary culture typologies, namely stable, reactive,
anticipating, exploring and creative. Hampden-Turner (1990) used four
types of culture to describe organizational culture, namely role, power,
task and atomistic cultures. O'Reilly Chataman and Caldwell (1991) have
presented seven primary charactristics to describe organizational culture,
namely innovation and risk taking, attention to detail, outcome
orientation, people oreintation, team orientation aggressiveness and
stability . Perhaps the most famous of these typologies is the one roposed
by Hofstede (1991), who has highlighted that cultures differ based on
five dimensions, namely power distance, individualism/collectivism,
uncertainty avoidance, masculinity/faminimity and Confucian
dynamsism. Schein suggests a view of organizational culture based on
distinguishing three levels of culture: artifacts and creations; vlaues; and
basic assumptions. These levels are explained as follows:
Artifacts (Level 1) : The most visible level of the culture is artificats and
creations - constructed physical and social environment. This includes
58
physical space and layout, the technological outut, written and spoken Organizational
Culture
laguage and the overt behavior of group members.
Values (Level 2) : Cultural learning reflects someone's original values.
Solutions about how to deal with a new task, issue or problem are based
on convictions of reality. If the solution works the value can transform
into a belief. Values and beliefs become part of the concetual rocess by
which group members justify actions and behaviour.
Basic underlying assumptions (Level 3) : When a solution to a problem
works repeatedly, it comes to be taken for granted. Basic assumptions
are unconsciously held learned responses. they are implicit
assumptions that actually guide behavior and determine how group
members perceive, think and feel about things. Schein suggests that
the basic assumptions are treatedas the essence - what culture really
is; and values and behaviours are treated as observed manifestations
of the culture essence.
Activity
Given that workforce in organizations is increasingly made up
of contractual workers, how relevant is organiation culture for such
workers?
67
Group Dynamics Mergers Don't Always Lead to Culture Clashes
and Culture
A lot of mergers lead to culture clashes and, ultimately, failure.
So in 2005 when the banking giant Bank of America (BOA) announced
its $35 billion acquisition of the credit card giant MBNA many thought
that in a few years this merger would join the heap of those done in
by cultural differences. MBNA's culture was characterized by a free-
sheeling, entrepreneurial spirit that was also quite secretive. MBNA
employees also were acustomed to the high life. Their corporate
headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware, could be described as lavish,
and employees throughout the company enjoyed high salaries and
generous perks - from the private golf course at its headquarters to
its fleet of corporate jets and private yachts.
Bank of America, in contrast, grew by thrift. It was a low-cost,
no-nonsense operation.Unlike MBNA, it believed that size and smarts
were more important than speed. The cultures in the two companies
were very, very different. Although these cultural differences seemed
a recipe for disaster, it appears, judging from the reactions of BOA
and MBNA employees, that the merger has worked. How can this be?
BOA had the foresight to know which MBNA practices to attempt to
change and which to keep in place. Expecially critical was BOA's
appreciation and respect for MBNA's culture. "On Day 1, I was directed
that this was not like th eones you are used to," said Clifford Skelton,
who had helped manage BOA's acquisiton of Fleetl Boston Financial
before moving on to MBNA. To try to manage the cultural transition,
executives of both companies began by comparing thousands of
practices covering everything from hiring to call-center operations.
In many cases, BOA chose to keep MBNA's cultural practices in place.
In other cases, BOA did impose its will on MBNA . For example,
because MBNA's pay rates were well above market, many MBNA
managers were forced to swallow a steep pay cut. Some MBNA
employees left, but most remained. In other cases, the cultures co-
adapted. For example, MBNA's dress code was much more formal than
BOA's business-casual approach.In the end, a hybrid code was
adopted, where business suits were expected in the credit card
division'scorporate offices and in front of clients, but business causal
68 was the norm otherwise. While most believe the merger has been
successful, there are tensions. Some BOA managers see MBNA Organizational
Culture
managers as arrogant and autocratic. Some MBNA managers see
their BOA counterparts as bureaucratic.
Questions
1. In what ways were the cultures of Bank of America and MNA
incompatible?
2. Why do you think their cultures appeared to mesh rather than
clash?
3. Do you think culture is important to the success of a merger/
acquisition? Why or why not?
Sources: Based on E. Dash, "A Clash of Cultures, Averted," The New
York Times (February 20, 2007), pp. B1, B3; L.Moyer, "Bank of America
Lewis Must Wait on His Fate," Forbes (April 29, 2009),
www.forbes.com ; and K.MacFadyen, "From the People Who Brought
You BofA," Mergers and Acquisitions (October, 2009), pp. 38-40.
16.5 SUMMARY
A simple way of defining culture is: 'how things are done around
here'. Organizational culture is the system of shared actions, values,
and beliefs that develops within an organization and guides the behavior
of its members. In a business set up, this system is often referred to as
the corporate culture. Just as no two individual personalities are the
same, no two organizational cultures are identical. The dimensions of
organization culture are : Power Culture Dimension, Role Culture
Dimension, Achievement Culture Dimension, and Support Dimension
. Culture creation occurs in three ways; first, founders hire and keep
only employees who think and feel the way the way they do second,
they indoctrinate and socialize these emplyees to their way of thinking
and feeling, finally, the founders' own behavior acts as a role model
that encourages employees to identify with them and thereby internalize
their beliefs, values, and assumptions. To manage the corporate culture
two broad strategies have received considerable attention in the
organizational behavior literature. One strategy calls for managers to
help modify observable culture, shared values, and common
assumptions directly. A second strategy involves the use of 69
Group Dynamics organizational development techniques to modify specific elements of the
and Culture
culture. A strong organizational culture refers to such culture in which
beliefs and values are shared relatively consistently throughout an
organizatio. The more members who accept the core values and the greater
their commitment, the stronger the culture; as a result, the stronger is its
influence on member behavior. On the other hand, in a weak culture
organizational members do not subscribe to the shared beliefs, values
and norms. Quintessentially, the fundamental strength of an organization's
culture is determined by how weak or strong it is.
72
73
U.P.Rajarshi Tandon Open MBA-1.2
University, Allahabad ORGANIZATIONAL
BEHAVIOUR
Block
5
Conflict and Change
Unit 17 5
Managing Conflict
Unit 18 19
Creativity
Unit 19 28
Power and Politics
Unit 20 39
Managing Organizational Change
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BLOCK -5
INTRODUCTION
Block five comprises of four units. Unit seventeen deals with
conflict management, Unit eighteen deals with creativity and its various
aspects, Unit nineteen deals with power and politics while unit twenty
deals with managing organisational change.
4
UNIT 17 Managing Conflict
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
• Understand the concept of Conflict
• Recognise different types of Conflict
• Describe the stages / process of Conflict
• Roles of Conflict
(a) Traditional View
(b) Modern View
• Aspects of Conflict
(a) Functional Conflict s
(b) Dysfunctional Conflicts
• Identify the causes of Conflict
• How to resolve/Manage Conflict
Structure
17.1 Introduction
17.2 Features of Conflict
17.3 Types of Conflict
17.4 The Stages of Conflict
17.5 Various Views about Conflict
17.6 Causes of Conflict
17.7 Modes of Resolving Conflict
17.8 Summary
17.9 Self-assessment Test
17.10 Further Readings
17.1 INTRODUCTION
The daily work of people in organization is intensely based on
communication and interpersonal relationships, but communication
in interpersonal relationships frequently opens the door for differences
and disagreements that can create difficulties, success in today's high
performance organizations increasingly requires a good understanding
of the funcamentals of conflict and its' resolution.
Conflict ?
Conflict occurs whenever disagreements exist in a social situation
over issues of substance or whenever emotional antagonisms create 5
Organizational frictions between individuals or groups. It, in some form or degree is part
Behaviour
and parcel of human life, hence, organzations are not free of it.
The term conflict has been used by different people to convey
different meaning. It is a psychological state of mind within or outside
the organization when people are in state of dilemma, whether to do or
not to do anything and seriously enagage themselves in weighing pros
and cons of the possible behavior but still feel themselves unable to take
a decision either way. Thus it is the state of wavering mind. It is not same
as is 'Quarrel' or 'fight'. Conflict simply gives emphasis on difference in
opinion, goals ideas and line of actions.
Newstrom and Davis have defined conflict very simply as follows:
"Coflict is any situation in which two or more parties feel themselves
in opposition, It is an interpersonal process. That arises from
disagreements over the goals or the methods to accomplish those goals."
12
(A) Functional Conflicts Managing
Conflict
The conflict which support the goals of group and improve its
performance are functional conflicts. If we look at conflicts from
functional point of view, conflicts are suppoosed to serve
following purpose -
* Release of Tension Conflict when expressed can clear the air and
reduced the tension.
* Analytical Thinking - When a group is faced with conflict, the
members of grouop display analytical thinking in identifying
various alternatives.
* Increase Group Cohesiveness - Inter group conflict bring
closeness and solidarity among the group members.
* Promotes Competitions - Conflicts promotes competition and
hence results in increased efforts.
* Helps to meet the Challenge of Threat - Conflicts test the abilities
and capacities of the individuals and groups to meet the
challenge of threats.
* Stimulation of change - Sometimes conflict stimulates change
among the people.
* Identification of weaknesses - When a conflict arrives it may help
in identifying the weaknesses the system.
* High Quality Decisions : When conflicting persons express their
opposing view and perceptives, high quality decisions results,
because each one of conflicting persons will try to give better
views.
B Dysfuntional Conflict
It works to the individual's group's or organisation's
disadvantage. It diverts energies, hurts group or organisation's
disadvantage. It diverts energies, hurt groups cohesion, promotes
interersonal hostilities and overall creates a negative environment for
workers. This occurs, for example, when two employers are Unable to
work together because of interpersonal differences or when the
members of a committee fails to act because they cannot agree on group
goals. Destructive conflicts of these types can decrease work
productivity and job satisfaction and contribution absenteeism and
high labour turnover.
13
Organizational The two faces of conflict
Behaviour
Positive Moderate
Impact on
performance Level of Coonflicts are constructive
Neutral Too little or too much conflicts is destructive
Negative
Low Intensity of Conflict High
18
UNIT 18 Creativity
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
• Understand the concept of creativity
• Two ways of Building a creative organization
• How climate for creativity is required in the organization
• Characteristics of creative organizations.
Structure
18.1 Introduction
18.2 Definition and elemens of creativity
18.3 Creativity Component
18.4 Cretivity process in the organizations
1. Ready - Aim - Fire and
2. Ready - Fire - Aim
18.5 Creating Climate for creativity
18.6 Characteristis of creative organization
18.7 Creative Problem Solving Process
18.8 Summary
18.9 Self-assessment Test
18.10 Further Readings
18.1 INTRODUCTION
Social Scientists have long recognized the importance of
creativity as is the capacity of persons to produce compositions,
products or ideas of any sort which are esentially new or novel and
previously unknown to the producer. It can be imaginative activity or
thought synthesis, where the products is not a mere summation. It may
involve the forming of new patterns and combinations of informataion
derived from past experience and transplant of old relationships to new
situations and may involve the generation of new correlates. Creativity
has found inclusion in the Webestor's New Dictionary recently and
has its root in the Indo European word base 'Kere' which means to grow
or cause to grow' and in the English verb 'create or to cause to come to
existence' to bring into being 'to make' or 'to originate, with the adjective
creative focusing attention upon 'ability' 'power' impulse 'agent' and
imagination. 19
Organizational
Behaviour 18.2 Definition and Nature of Creativity
Creativit is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas,
alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems,
communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and other.
According to Eysenck (1972) creativity is the ability to see new
relation to reduce unusual ideas and to deviate from traditional patterns
of thinking . Some psychologists think, that, in presence of creativity
person can present a new series or arrangement in the environment.
On the basis of the definition WE can, that creativit is a cognitive
empirical process from which an original roduct emerges or it is a bility
of multidimensional human attributes differently distributed among
people. It is spontaneous and inner directed. it includes the factors like
ability to see view relationships producing unusual ideas, solving
problems, fluency, flexibility originality, acquisitiveness and persistency.
Elements of creativity
Some important characteristic / elements may be as under -
* Creativity is a process
* Creativity process is goal directed
* Creativity is a way of thinking and it is not synonymous with
intelligence
* Creativity comes from divergent thinking.
* Creativity is a form of Controlled imagination.
* The process of c reativty depends on the acquition of accepted
knowledge.
* Creativty leads to production of something new.
Organisational
Support for creativity
18.8 Summary
In this unit we have discussed concept and nature of creativity as
of all the qualities that man possesses, those that contribute to his creative
thinking have been most important for his well being and his
advancement. For creative thinking is essential for solving problems, and
solving problems is necessary for survival growth and achieving abandon
life of individual as well as of organizations. Besides the characteristics
of creativity its components like Fluency. Flexibility originality and creative
products are also discussed. .
There are two ways for building a creative organization - Ready -
Aim - Fire i.e. First we need ideas : Ready stage, Identify what needs to be
done and gather all the information and ideas available, then aim - choose
the best solution or strategy. This style of Ready - Aim - Fire will provide
most organizations with a balance approach to be able to cope with most
organisations problems. On the other an organisation which encourages
the more innovative style of Ready - Fire - Aim which fosters
experimentation and controlled risk-taking will be more successful in
26 staying ahead of its competitors. That is come with an ideas (Ready) - try
it out immediately in a calculalted low risk 9Fire0 and learn from this Creativity
experiment (Aim).
Climate represents the behavior attitudes and feelings of the
organization which in tern affect its operational process in terms of
communications, problem solving, decision maing and how it learns.
The organizational climatic dimension which affects organizational
creativity are also identified. Hence it should be very clear that creativity
is not something that can be 'turned on' at will, but rather by the result
of long term exposure to an encouraging climate.
New ideas, essential for an organization to service, are not
necessary generated from within. Alliance with other organizations,
freedom in work, thinking , decision making etc., Non rigidity in
organization's hierarchies and traditional control structures are some
motivating factors which generates the new ideas in the organisation.
27
Organizational
Behaviour UNIT 19 Power and Politics
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
• Understand concept of Power and Authority
• Recognise the different sources of Power
• Understand the concept of influence and influence Tactics.
• Definition of organizational politics.
Structure
19.1 Introduction
19.2 Definition and characteristics of Power
19.3 Authority meaning and features.
19.4 Distinction between Authority and Power
19.5 Sources of Power Formal, and (b) personal
19.6 Influence and Influence Tactics
19.7 Meaning and Features of organizational politics
19.8 Reasons for organizational politics
19.9 Managing Organizational politics
19.10 Summary
19.11 Self-assessment Test
19.12 Further Readings
19.1 INTRODUCTION
Organizations are built by the aggregation of people for some
common goals, and in order to achieve these goals, people should behave
in a manner specied by organizational rules, regulations, policies and
other methods, organizations try to achieve this through the process of
influencing behaviour of their members. The process of influencing the
behavior or people working in organization for getting desired result many
be termed as power because influence is a behavioural response to the
exercise of power.
19.3 Authority
Authority is another means of invluencing behavior of people
in the organisation. In fact authority is a right of a person to give orders
and power to have obedience. It is the right to guide and direct the
actions of others with the hope to get appropriate responses to the
attainment of organizational goals. It is a right to utilizes organizational
resources and to make decisions and get them carried out. Authority is
like a thread by which different Units of the organization are integrated.
It is the key to all managerial jobs, it means that aspect by which
manager have some RIGHT by which be getthe things done, that right
is technically known as AUTHORITY. It is a legal or rightful power to
command or to act, Authority is a binding force in the organization
forming the very basis of responsibility, and because of authority and
responsibility relationship superior, subordinate relation exist in the
organisation.
Features of Authority
From the above discussion we can identify the features of
authority, which are as follows;
* It is the legitimate right to command direct guide and control
the subordinates.
* It is granted as per one's position in the organization to achieve
the pre-determined organisational goals.
29
Organizational * Authority is the key to the managerial jobs.
Behaviour
* Authority is the right to direct and make use of others to get the
things done.
* Authority is a commanding force binding and establishing
relationship between different individuals.
19.10 Summary
In this unit we have considered power and authority as a factors
responsible for influencing the behavior of people working in the
organisation, while power is capacity of an individual to command the
authority is right of an individual to command while authority is
legitimate institutional originates because of structural relationship
individual uses the authority because of his positiions in the
organization. power emerges because of personal factors. It is extra
organization in nature and anyone in the organization may have this
type of influence through the use of power provided one is capable of
doing so. There are two sources of power such as (1) Formal source
and (2) Personal source. In formal source. Three types of power are
37
Organizational available (Coercive, Reward, legitimate power) to individual as a result
Behaviour
of his / her position in the organization. Personal power resides in the
individual position. There are three sources of personal power viz.
Expertise, Rational persuasion and Referent.
Influence is the process of changing someone's behavior with
pushing, forcing or telling other what to do as per his/ her wishes. There
are so many types of tactics are discussed in the unit which are generally
used in the organisation to gain more power so that the behavior of
individuals can be changed as per his/her wishes.
Organisational politics can be viewed as actions for seizing, holding
extracting and executing power by individuals and groups for achieving
personal goals. We have discussed in the Unit Various reasons for
organizational politics and the ways by which dysfunctional
organizational politics can be managed.
38
UNIT 20 Managing Organisational Change
Objectives
After reading this unit you will be able to
• Understand the meaning and factors responsible for
organisational change
• Identify tha tvariouis approaches in managing organizational
change.
• Understand the reasons for resistance to change and method to
overcome it.
Structure
20.1 Introduction
20.2 Meaning and features of organisational change
20.3 Factors Responsible for organisational change.
20.4 Approaches to managing organizational change
20.5 Planned change strategy
20.6 Types of organisational change
20.7 What is Resistance to change
20.8 Causes for Resistance to change
20.9 Managing Resistance to change
20.10 Summary
20.11 Self-assessment Test
20.12 Further Readings
20.1 INTRODUCTION
Change is the law of the world, Birth, childhood, yough old age,
joy and sorrow, change of seasons are all the hard realities of life. In
other word everything is subject to change in this world. To know that
the world is subject to change is not so important as it is to compromise
with these changes to mainain our existence. Similarly change is watch
word of the day for many, if not most organizations. Organizations that
do not adopt to change find it difficult or even impossible to survive.
44
Managing Organizat-
20.6 Different types of organizational change ional Change
46
resistance to change may be identified in two forms: Managing Organizat-
ional Change
(A) Individual Resistance (B) Organisational Resistance
(A) Individual Resistance : There are many factors operating at the
individual level which are responsible for resistance, these may be seen
in the context of three types - Economic, Psychological and special.
Economic Factors :
In fact these factors relate to the basic economic needs of the
workers like necessities of life, job security and safety.
* Workers may apprehend technological unemployment.
* Workers fear that they will be idle for much to their time due to
increased efficiency of new technology.
* Workers may fear that they will be demoted if they do not acquire
the skills required for the new jobs.
* Workers may resist the change leading to setting higher job
standards which may reduce opportunity for bonus or incentive
pay.
Psychological Factors :
Workers have got psychological needs like sense of pride of
achievement and self fulfillment etc. The reasons for these resistance
to changes area:
* Workers may apprehenced boredom and monotony in the new
jobs as a result of specialization brought by the new technology.
* Workers may resist a change because they do not want to take
trouble in learning the new things.
* Workers may not have knowledge for entire change.
* Workers may not capable of understanding the implications of
new ideas and methods.
* Workers may fear that there may be less need for manual work
which will lead to reduction of their personal pride.
47
Organizational groups at the work place for the satisfaction of their social needs. The
Behaviour
social reasons for resistance to change are:
* Workers may have a feeling and fear that the new social set up
arising out of the change will be less satisfying than the present
set up.
* Workers may also object that the changes which are brought
abruptly without consulting them.
* Workers may feel that changes being introduced will benefit the
organization or the employer rather than themselves.
* Workers oppose the people who sonsor and implement the
change if they are strangers to them.
(B) Organizational Resistace Factors not only individuals and
groups within an organization resist change even the
organization itself resist many changes because of certain
reasons. These are:
* Threat to power and influence : If the top level managers feel
that the change will hurt their power and influence they will
certainly oppose the change.
* Resource constraints : Normally changes are resisted by an
organisation if it lacks in some resources which are critical for
implementing the change such as financial resources, personnel
resources etc.
Heavy Cost / Sunk Cost : Sometimes there are some changes which
may involve the change of old assets and the old staff, such a change
involves huge cost, some organizations are unable to bear it.
49
Organizational ideas and is unwilling to go ahead without taking them into
Behaviour
account.
* Group Contact : In order to end the possibility of opposition to
change, consultations can be had with a group. During the course
of Discussion they can be made to understand the causes that made
the change imperative and how the various of parties will be
affected.
Other Measures : There are some other measures to reduce
resistance to change such as :
* Arrangement of Resources : The shortage of resources compels
the top-level managers to oppose the change the managers should
think of the change only after making arrangements for sufficient
resources.
* Management of Cost of Change : The top level management should
ensure that the loss likely to be suffered because of the change in
permanent assets is compensated by implementing th eprogramme
of change or otherwise the idea of introducing the change should
be abandoned.
* Proper time of change : The time of implementing the change deeply
affects the resistance to change. If the organization is earning
profits and the employees are not being given any bonus they will
certainly resist to change. On the contrary, if the organization is
earning good profits and employees are getting good bonus
alongwith other facilities, they will cooperate to change.
* Slow Induction : The change should be gradually implemented in
various stages, by doing so the employee get mentally prepared
for the change and resistance to change is minimized.
20.10 Summary
Turbulence is a term often used to describe the current environment
of business and management. Presently global economy is full of
problems and opportunities, and is constantly springing new surprises
on even most efficient organisations. As the environment changes. They
50
are compelled to change themselves too not just in the quest of Managing Organizat-
ional Change
customers in highly competitive market, but also in the quest for the
best in employee talent.
Now flexibility has become the rule of the day. Amidst the calls
for greater productivity, willingness to learn from the success of others,
total quality and continuous improvement, everyone is being called
upon to achieve success while pursuing change.
In this unit we have discussed about the concept of change , as
the stage in which specific actions are taken to create. alongwith the
and and nature of change. At Individual and organizational and
several forces influence changes in internal and external environment
of organization. These changes in term influence the effectiveness of
organizations and require a change. The process of organisational
change involves. Three stages - unfreezing, moving and Refreezing.
Organization Resistance to change is a natural phenomenon in
the organisations. There are several factors which are responsible for
resistance like economic factor, psychological and social factor at
Individual level, and Resource constraints, sunk cost and threat to
power and influence like factors at organizational level. Understanding
those factors some measures are also discussed to overcome with the
resistance to change so that the organization can be made effective in
a globalized competitive market.
51
Organizational 5. Why do people resists change? How will you overcome with these
Behaviour
resistance?
52