Module 1

INTRODUCTION TO ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Module Introduction
Since the period of the Industrial Revolution, the effective when it is able to achieve its goals.
study of organizational behavior has been viewed as an
essential tool in managing organizations. This aims to
learn how people behave in the workplace and how Definition of Organizational Behavior
these behaviors affect the organization. This chapter In any organization, managing its resources has
primarily focuses on the overview of what organizational always been part of a strategy to attain its goals, be it
behavior is and why it is deemed important in financial resources, technological resources, or human
determining organizational effectiveness. It shall also resources. Perhaps, some organizations consider this a
challenge in today’s fast-paced environment. Human
examine how human capital can be a source of
resource is undeniably one of the main resources in the
competitive advantage for an organization.
organization. Imagine an organization without its people
The introduction to human behavior in as members - what then is an organization?
organizations shall bring about a better understanding Various studies have proven that
of the course and shall illustrate the roadmap for the organizational effectiveness also depends on the
topics to be discussed along the study of this course. effective performance of its employees. Hence, the
management takes the challenge in understanding the
behavior of individuals and groups in the organization.
BASIC CONCEPTS OF ORGANIZAION
This undertaking then became a field to study in
Definition of Organization
behavioral sciences in the context of management and
So as to facilitate efficiency and effectiveness in
organizations. Organizational Behavior can be defined
learning the basic concepts of organizational behavior,
as the study of how people behave and act in an
we begin first with the nature of the organization. The
organizational environment.
term organization is defined as a collection of
Organizational behavior focuses on how
individuals who work together, having a coordinated
system, towards the attainment of a common goal. individuals and groups behave in the workplace and how
Organizations can be characterized by the following these behaviors then affect the organization.
features : Understanding their behavior is important in improving
organizational effectiveness and at the same time
(1) Network of individuals. An organization consists of
enhancing positive effects on the employees working in
individuals forming relationships to get things done and
a given organization. For instance, an employee who is
problems solved.
not motivated to do his/her job well results in lower
(2) System. This feature is related to the first one, whereby
productivity; when he/she is not happy working with
everyone in this network of individuals follows a
other members of the organization, employee
coherent and well-defined structure and processes.
satisfaction is likewise at stake. On the other hand, one
(3) Coordinated activities. In order to achieve a common
employee who gets rewarded after accomplishing a
goal, the organization integrates all the various
required report tends toperform better the next time,
activities. This also facilitates efficiency as regards the
he/she is asked to do jobs related to it. Explaining and
use of resources and allows the individuals and groups
predicting behavior within an
to perform effectively.
organization is the bottom line of organizational
(4) Division of Labor. Activities are grouped according to the
behavior. During the courseof the discussion of the
job family. Thus, for the organization to be able to
entire concepts of human behavior in organization, the
accomplish these several functions, activities are
readers shall come across several theories. This shall
divided into departments. Each department is often
include but not be limited to theories in learning,
headed by an expert in a given field.
personality, motivation, and leadership.
(5) Goal Orientation. This serves as the primary reason why
an organization exists. There must be a goal or a
The Organizational Behavior Model: Individual,
common purpose. For example, a supermarket is
Group, and Organization Examining organizational
established to achieve the goal of creating profits and at
behavior includes three levels, i.e. individual level, group
the same time to provide convenience and one stop
level, and organizational level as a whole. Through this,
shop for all the grocery and household goods.
we may identify what causes people to behave
(6) Continuity over time, regardless of membership change.
individually and collectively. Organizational behavior
An organization affords to operate even if there is a
allows understanding of the actionsof people in the
change in its members. Since there is an established
workplace. Through the concepts and theories of OB,
system with a solid foundation of its structure and
the management will know what makes and why
processes, new members may continue to manage and
individuals get motivated to be part of an organization,
still pursue the achievement of the organizational goals.
why they feel happy or bad in terms of their satisfaction
Generally, an organization can be considered
in the work environment, and why one performs more
productively than the others, why some reach their influence and rise of group leaders. Recognizing the
retirement age in the company, while others leave after existence of groups in the organization can help the
quite some time, why there are groups opposing the management in analyzing group pressures that further
management, and how organizations do deal and react affect individual performance. When groups are well-
to changing environment. Basically, organizational managed, business transactions are smoothly being
behavior helps the management in recognizing and done, e.g. planning, organizing, and coordinating.
analyzing how the individual and group characteristics, The organization. One feature of an organization is the
workplace scenarios, and the organizations themselves system - there follows the existence of a formal
affect how people feel about and make consequent structure. And formal organizations are composed of
actions in the workplace. individuals and groups interacting within the structure.
The hierarchy in the structure guides the entire
organization on how the communication and information
flow and how its people carry out theiractivities. In
relation to organizational behavior, the management
systems, structure patterns, and leadership styles affect
the behavior of employees. When one member of the
organization feels that there is a bottleneck, it could
dramatically affect the way an employee performs in the
workplace.
Very true that individual, interpersonal and
organizational factors define the employee value in the
workplace.

Exhibit
1.1
Level of Analysis in
Organizational Behavior
(George and
Jones, 2012)

The Individual. When there is a fit between

individual needs/values and the organization’s
expectations, there is a reduced likelihood of frustrations
and conflict as a result of their behaviors. Hence, the
management must ensure that they are able to integrate
the individual and organization. This will then foster a Exhibit
satisfactory work environment while attaining the 1.2
organizational goals as well. Factors and Outcomes of a Strategic
The Group. All organizations are composed of Approach to Organizational Behavior (Hitt,
groups. Groups are generally composed of two or more Miller and Colella, 2012)
individuals working together and influencing one another
as they interact. Informal groups are also formed within
the organizations given the nature of people having Figure 2 shows the factors and outcomes of a
social needs – a feeling of belongingness. In today’s strategic approach to organizational behavior. Individual
work environment, groups are turned into teams. Teams factors include one’s personal values and capabilities
are groups of individuals who work together, have their such as motivation, satisfaction, ability to learn, locus of
respective roles, and are performing for a common goal. control and personality, skills and attributes, and so on.
A group of basketball players becomes a team when a For interpersonal factors, quality of leadership,
specific and common goal brings them together, e.g. to communication, role relationships, and decision making
win a game as one. Each is given a roleto perform in groups and teams are elements affecting how
during the entire game. On the other hand, some individual capacities are fully utilized in the organization.
assemblies for a show are not considered teams. They Lastly, important organizational factors like formal
are gathered together as a crowd but they only interact structures, policies, and culture are recognized to
to a very little extent. Goals are not even specific. influence employee attitudes towards the creation of
Group members as time pass by developing positive outcomes.
relationships between and among them, resulting in the
All these factors result in the outcomes coined as Advantage (Barney and Wright, 1998)
productivity, satisfaction, and organizational success. Human Capital Value. It is the extent to which
Productivity is defined as the output of individuals and individuals are capable of supporting strategy for
groups. Satisfaction is related to the feelings of competing in the marketplace. For instance, a teacher
individuals and groups towards their work and work who is not properly trained on pedagogy will not be able
environment. Organizational Success refers to the to deliver quality education, thus, he/she will not add
organization’s competitive advantage and financial value to the academe as his/her organization. Human
performance. The value of people is gleaned from resources can add value to the organization by ensuring
employee productivity, satisfaction, and organizational that the HR functions and practices are strategic, e.g.
success. (Hitt, Miller and Colella, 2012) lowering the costs and increasing the revenues.
Another important aspect to consider in Human Capital Rareness. It refers to the extent
organizational behavior is the concept of the to which employees’ KSAOs are unique in the industry
psychological contract. This is an unwritten and silent where their organization belongs. Rare talents are
contract between the individuals and the management of difficult to find, hence, it becomes a source of a
the organization. This is the implied give-and-take competitive advantage. In contrast, those talents of a
relationship between the two. The psychological contract certain value that can be found in any existing
recognizes the needs and expectations of both parties. It organization may not be considered and edge because it
is significant in terms of the extent to whereby the two is common to anyone. A company through its HR
parties have perceived and respected the agreement as practices like training can create a homogeneous human
fair and just. Some employees do not only leave the resource and exhibit rare characteristics to gain a
organization due to the breach of the employment competitive advantage.
contract but because there are also instances that there
were problems arising regarding the psychological
contract, even if it is actually not a written agreement.
ORGANIZATION AND ITS HUMAN CAPITAL
Organizational behavior can be viewed as a
means to create a competitive advantage through its
human resources. Knowledge of organizational behavior
allows managers to rightfully lead and govern the
organization and its people. Equally important,
employees who have a working knowledge of
organizational behavior help them to value their work
Exhibit
and workplace, leading to positive behavior in the
1.3
organization for their goal achievement.
VRIO
Framework
Competitive Advantage through Human Capital
Adapted from Barney and Wright (1998)
In today’s business landscape where
by Hitt, Miller, Collela (2012)
competition is always present, it is important for an
organization to identify its competitive advantage. This is
to ensure survival in a given industry. Competitive Shown in Figure 2 is the VRIO Framework. It is
advantage is something unique about the organization the matrix whereby we identify whether the human
and cannot be easily copied by any other competitor. resources in the organization have value, are rare and
Simply, this is the edge over the others! Often, you’ll are difficult to imitate, and are supported by effective
hear companies claiming that their latest equipment, management. If the answer to all these criteria is yes,
technological advancement, marketing strategies,
then the organization would reflect a sustained
reputation, company image, and the like are the sources
of their competitive advantage. Both tangible and competitive advantage and above-normal performance.
intangible resources can be a source. Hence, we now
look at human resources as a competitive edge.
Human capital is simply the sum of an
Module 2
individual’s KSAOs - knowledge, skills, attributes and
GLOBALIZATION,
other general characteristics. Human resources, unlike
DIVERSITY, AND ETHICS
any other form of assets, do not depreciate. In fact,
through experiences and training, they are even
becoming more developed. Module Introduction
Human capital as a source of organization’s It is an inescapable fact that the emergence of
competitive advantage can be determined by its value, concerns and issues relating to the increasing
rareness, and imitability. This was from the Value- globalization, the existence of diversity in the workplace,
Rareness-Imitability and Organization or VRIO and ethics in a global context are already part of every
framework of the On Becoming a Strategic Partner: The business organization today. Organizational behavior
Role of Human Resources in Gaining Competitive
plays a significant role in addressing how individuals with individuals coming from different countriesaround
and groups can cope with this trend. OB also aims to the world is an opportunity for learning. Differences may
look at these concerns as an advantage rather than a be apparent, but so as new ideas and creativity.
challenge. Cultural effects on international working relationships
Globalization demands that human resources be more can be viewed through high-context and low-context
competitive beyond their national borders. As cultures. Countries with high-context cultures tend to
globalization opens the boundaries between countries, communicate and understand individuals through
this leads to the riseof a more diversified workforce, contextual elements. They consider looking atthe
embracing cultures and individual differences within underlying meaning, gesture, and tone in a message.
international firms. Consequently, diversity and They focus on valuing personal relationships and trust.
globalization had led to the concept of ethics and ethical Most Asian countries like Korea, China, Japan, and the
behavior in organizations. This concern has been less Philippines. On the other hand, countries like Germany,
discussed and with only a little attention in the United States of America, and Canada exhibit low-
organizational behavior. But now, the emerging context cultures. This means that they communicate
perspectives on ethics have brought up moral issues through an established system. Theyprefer no room for
and choices as well as the dealt with right and wrong confusion. The purpose of low-context cultures is to
behaviors. As you go along the chapter, you will get to make a message clear toeveryone so that it will not slow
understand how these three concepts go together in the down the process. They value messages in black and
context of human behavior in organizations. Moreover, white rather than contextual clues.
these can now be viewed as issues to make the In addition, there are some more related
management rethink about their approaches to their aspects of culture such as monochronic and polychronic
organization’s operations and workforces. time orientation. Monochronic time orientation is
manifested by individuals who prefer working on tasks
ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR IN A GLOBAL one at a time. They do not engage in multitasking and
CONTEXT do not divert attention from a planned task to minimize
Today, globalization is one of the major interruptions. Contrary to that, individuals with
environmental aspects that creates a huge impact on polychronic time orientation work well even with
organizations. This paradigm shift has also challenged multiple tasks at a given time. They have more flexible
organizations to respond both in internal and external plans and are not distressed by interruptions.
environments. In the context of OB, we understand that In most cases, individuals who differ in high-
individuals think, behave and act differently around the context and low-context cultures have difficulties dealing
world. We may have similarities but differences as well. with one another; the same is true for those who work
This is actually related to the next topic in this chapter, with monochronic and polychronic time orientations.
i.e. diversity. However, these issues may be resolved through proper
Let us first discuss globalization. This refers to training as regards cultural differences. The outcome of
the internationalization of business organizations the said training is known as cultural intelligence. It is an
leading to a global economy. It is a trend whereby the individual’s ability to understand and adjust to the
national boundaries become less relevant. behaviors of people outside his/her culture.
For example, individuals may opt to learn foreign
languages or may prefer working in teams.
Globalization and Foreign Job Assignments
The increasing globalization has paved the way
to foreign job assignments for its human resources. International Participation: Multi-domestic, Global,
Multinational firms assign employees to operate and Transnational Firms Organizations that engage in
businesses across countries. Individuals who are tasked foreign markets have more opportunities for growth yet
to work outside their home countries are known as require an understanding of which international
expatriates or “ex pats”. For expatriates, this is an approaches and related organizational characteristics to
exciting experience as an opportunity for learning and consider.
growth
but at the same time, is a challenge to take. Common Multi domestic Firms
problems encountered by the ex-pats include culture These are organizations that utilize multi-
shock or the stress brought about by the individual’s domestic strategies. Firms operate in such a way that
difficulties and challenges in coping with the they respond to the needs in particular of each country.
requirements of life outside their home country. This is Products are tweaked to suit the preference of a specific
particularly related to how one should behave and act in market. Nestle is a classic example of a multidomestic
a new country. firm. It uses specific and unique sets of strategies like
Culture, as defined, is a way of life, that varies marketing and sales approaches. It caters to the local
from one country to another. Some acceptable taste of a given country and offers different products for
behaviors in a given country may not be appropriate or different markets. In general, multi-domestic firms have
morally right to the culture of other nations. Aside from low integration but high responsiveness. Company
the challenging experience of a foreign job assignment, employees then have fewer chances of being deployed
this can also be considered a rewarding one. Working outside their countries.
Global Firms Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism,
These firms are characterized by high and Masculinity. This resulted from his research among
integration and low responsiveness. The strategy of the 40 countries. Several scientists and researchers
organization is to offer standards and common products followed him and identified some more dimensions of
across different countries and regions in the world. They national culture.
seek to maintain centralization in the mother country Researchers under The Global Leadership and
while maximizing efficiency through reduced costs. Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) Project
Global firms oppose multi-domestic firms. Commonly, generated nine units of measurement or Cultural
pharmaceutical and luxury goods companies belong to Dimensions. This research was made across 162
this type of firm. These firms often send expatriates countries.
across the organization. 1. Power Distance. It refers to the degree to which the
power and status privileges are accepted by people to
be unequally distributed in society. Countries that score
high on this dimension are those that expect a more
centralized or autocratic leadership. Russia is one
example of high power distance. Members of this
country respect their titles and status.
2. Uncertainty Avoidance. It refers to the degree to which
people do not feel like taking risks in unpredictable
outcomes. In high uncertainty avoidance countries,
people focus on following specific rules and putting
everything in order. Germany and Japan are
countriesthat score high on this.
3. Assertiveness. Hofstede identified this as “masculinity”
in his four dimensions of culture. This refers to the
degree to which people are aggressive and
confrontational. It reflects the strong personality of
individuals in high assertiveness countries. Often, those
who have low-context cultures score high on
assertiveness. Germany and the United States are high
assertiveness countries as opposed to the Philippines
Exhibit where people are asked and consulted before making
2.2 decisions.
Bartlett and Ghoshal’s Typology of 4. In-group collectivism. It refers to the degree to which
Multinational Companies: people take pride in belonging to their organizations and
Global, Transnational, International families. China scores high on this as they exhibit a
and Multidomestic Strategy strong distinction between the members and non-
members of their group or family.
5. Institutional Collectivism. It refers to the degree to which
the integration of groups and organizations is
Transnational Firms encouraged. This means that countries that have high
Transnational firms use transnational strategy in institutional collectivism oppose individualism.
becoming highly responsive to the specific needs of a Individualism is one dimension identified by Hofstede as
country and at the same time, high in global integration. the degree to which individuals feel good when they are
These firms somehow exhibit the characteristics of both self-reliant and focused in their
multi-domestic and global firms. They try to tailor fit the personal goals. Germany and Italy have low institutional
products to some degree to cater to the needs of various collectivism but score high on individualism. People in
countries but also seek to standardize to some extent these countries are rewarded for their personal efforts
for cost efficiency. International travels and meetings and outcomes. Japan and Singapore on the other hand
and foreign job assignments are also evident in this type have high institutional collectivism.
of firm. 6. Performance Orientation. It refers to the degree to
which excellence is recognized and rewarded.
International Firms Innovation and competitiveness are encouraged in
These firms are not actually considered countries with high performance orientation. They
strategic as they have low levels of local appreciate excellent performance thus, they value the
responsiveness and global integration. This is much training and reward system. Singapore and the United
known as an exporting strategy. States score high on this, while Russia has a low-
Dimensions of National Culture performance orientation.
One of the significant contributions to 7. Humane Orientation. It refers to the degree to which
organizational behavior made by Geert Hofstede, a people value fairness, kindness, and altruism in the
social scientist, is the four dimensions of culture, i.e. country. The Philippines is one nation with a high
 humane orientation. Singapore and Germany on the resulting in unfair treatment towards people based
other hand have low humane orientation. on an individual’s social or cultural membership. Some
8. Gender Egalitarianism. It refers to the degree to which prejudiced persons do not act in their attitudes. But for
equality for men and women is actualized. When gender those who do, discrimination is manifested in three
egalitarianism is evident in a country, women are given common examples - racial discrimination, age
the opportunity to achieve power and positions. Japan discrimination, and gender discrimination. For instance,
scores low on this. Women in this country are less a married woman was not promoted in her job because
recognized and have lower status as regards work. the management thinks that the roles of women at
9. Future Orientation. It is the degree to which individuals home are more prioritized than the job. Another example
value investing in plans for the future. People value isan old-aged man who was not hired for the job without
long-term gains in countries with high future orientation. looking at his credentials and simply decided on the
Russia scores low on this while Canada, Switzerland, grounds of age. Prejudice and discrimination are
and the Netherlands are high on this. roadblocks to diversity. Aside from it results in injustice
and lawsuits, and these barriers prevent an organization
In general, a global business must understand from fostering creativity and innovation from diversity.
that the functions and practices in managing human 2. Stereotyping. It refers to generalized beliefs towards
resources are common, but the approach to how these individuals belonging to a certain group. This means
will be performed shall vary from one country to that a person is judged based on what is perceived
another. Effective management ensures that they are about a given group. For example, black people are
attuned to their cultural surroundings. viewed and generalized as poor and underqualified.
People with Disabilities are considered weak. Whenever
MANAGING DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE people think that members of a group have the same
characteristics, this is already a pre-judgment, without
seeing whether a certain member is really of the same
Diversity: What is it?
characteristics as their group. Thus, stereotyping
The differences between and among individuals becomes a barrier to diversity and stereotypes end up in
and groups are often viewed as sources of conflict in false judgments.
the workplace. However, given the fact that everyone is 3. Differences in Social Identity. Social identity theory was
unique and people are heterogeneous, effective proposed by psychologist, Henri Tajfel. He defined
managers now consider diversity as an advantage. social identity as a person’s sense of whom they are
Esty, et.al defined diversity as acknowledging, based on their group membership. In social identity
understanding, accepting, and valuing differences theory, individuals take pride as they belong toa certain
among people with respect to age, class, race, group. The world was divided i n t o “them” and “us”
ethnicity, gender, disabilities, etc. based on a process of social categorization (i.e. we put
A huge factor that brought about diversity is the people into social groups). Religion, nationality, sexual
changing demographics. These changes are best orientation, and ethnic groups are examples of social
exemplified by the changing role of women in society groups. Affiliation to any of these boosts the self-esteem
and new family roles, equal employment opportunities, of an individual which sustains the social identity.
and organizational restructuring. Moreover, technological However, the differences in social identity became a
advancementand globalization also led to new barrier to diversity. When an individual’s social identity is
workplace practices. too prominent, the person becomes more aware of being
Organizations that are able to manage diversity different from the rest of the group to where he or she
make it beneficial to both employers and employees. does not belong. Thus, the situation may result in stress
Embracing diversity minimizes discrimination and and dissatisfaction. Similarly, those from minority groups
consequent legal liabilities. Diversity promotes a feel stressed and fear about losing their social identity
continuous learning environment, creativity, and when the majority seem to indirectly “check their identity
innovation in the workplace. at the gate”. Hence, people who belong to a common
group think that they are better than those who do not.
Barriers to Achieving Diversity This now can also result in stereotypes and
Although managing diversity has been discrimination.
advantageous to groups and individuals, organizations 4. Power Differentials. Power often comes from the status
still encounter problems related to roadblocks and and expertise of an individual. When one seems to be of
obstacles in creating an inclusive workplace. The a higher level than the other, say in terms of knowledge
barriers and challenges to achieving diversity include: and skills, he or she may gain individual power. This
1. Prejudice and Discrimination. Prejudice is an unjustified actually makes no problem when ethical behavior is
and negative attitude of individuals towards others who considered by those people in power. Although, power
belong to social or cultural groups outside their own. differentials often exist and eventually create a barrier to
Example of this is racism and sexism. Prejudice diversity. There is a tendency to have factions and
influences the way a person thinks about a certain those who belong to low-status groups get frustrated as
group. Prejudiced views, if not at all times, often lead to they often feel harassed and are not free to speak up.
discrimination. Discrimination is the negative behavior While those of higher status tend to ignore and belittle
 others. Power inequality does not embrace diversity. diversity management are voluntary in nature. Diversity
5. Poor Organizational Design and Structural management is proactive. It allows individuals to learn
Integration. A good organizational design creates a fair from the views and perspectives of other groups. This is
distribution of authority, workload, and functions of more than AAPs andEEOs.
individuals and groups within the organization. This also
ensures an effective organizational structure. Structural Diversity looks at the differences of individuals,
integration likewise shows how men and women are not the groups. Hence, each one is definitely unique,
represented in positions in the organization. A poorly and judging them based on their group preference and
integrated integration reflects what is being coined in membership will be helpful as they do not actually
organizational represent a group in particular. Hasty generalization
behavior as the glass ceiling. This term refers to the leads to discrimination and conflicts. There is no best
barriers that hinder minorities and women from reaching practice to manage diversity. Each organization must
their career aspirations. In addition, the glass border assess and understand what works best for them based
refers to the barrier that discriminates against women by on the dynamics of the workplace.
not providing opportunities to be given foreign job Personal awareness and empathy are keys to
assignments. Lastly, a glass floor or also known as a managing diversity effectively throughan individual
sticky floor refers to a approach. For organizational approaches, training
barrier that hinders an even lateral movement into programs are effective techniques.
other positions at the basic level. 6. Communication
Barriers and Resistance to Change.
Miscommunication and resistance to change have also
ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE ON ORGANIZATIONAL
hindered the achievement of diversity. BEHAVIOR
Ethics is a moral principle about what is right or
The management must ensure the wrong. The ethical values of individuals guide them in
implementation of effective diversity management creating decisions and making necessary actions. This
programs not only to minimize legal consequences but has become an issue in organizational behavior as
to recognize each of the individuals as they are. these ethical values and behavior differ from the
Effective managers should take into account two influences that individuals consider.
important programs, i.e. affirmative action programs and 1. Cultural Influences. Examples of this include family,
diversity management programs. However, the latter religion, and friends. How people are raised leads to
provides a more inclusive working environment. Shown personal ethics. Since personal ethics is apparently
in Exhibit 2.3 is the comparison of the two programs. diverse, professional ethics and organizational ethics
Exhibit shall help the organization in establishing the guidelines
2.3 to follow in the workplace.
Affirmative Action versus 2. Organizational Influences. These are the company
Diversity Management policies and practices, codes of ethics, and reward and
(Hitt, Miller and punishment systems. These are implemented in the
Collela, 2012) entire organization and attempt to create a company
image of behaving ethically.
3. External Environment. These forces include political,
legal, economic, and international developments as
well.

Ethics in the context of Globalization

Ethics can make a reputation of an
organization. Ethical behaviors reflect an organization's
honest and just professional endeavors and activities.
Employees even become more productive when they
Basically, affirmative action programs were think they belong and work for organizations that
created by the government to eliminate discrimination, practice fair business activities.
thus promoting equal employment opportunities. Ethical issues concern every individual in
However, this often does not address the real problem various countries all over the world. In organizational
but simply focuses more on the legal aspects. Diversity behavior, ethics play an important role in several HR
managementon the other hand responds to the needs of practices including employee recruitment and selection,
individuals and groups in terms of fostering greater performance management, retention decisions, and
inclusion in the workplace regardless of different labor relations. Since cultural influences differ from one
backgrounds. It is likewise more strategic as it also country to another, corporate cultures are significantly
considers diversity as a source of competitive taking a big part in guiding the ethical principles of the
advantage. Some organizations comply with AAPs just organizations. Human behavior in organizations and
to minimize lawsuits; while organizations promoting ethical corporate cultures should go hand in hand to win
in theglobal market. The way the individuals behave in experience? Will the child run again every time
the organizations makes up the representation of the seeing a dog? 
companies as a whole. Thus, the management must
ensure that the organization maximizes the economic
outcomes without violating legal obligations and moral
standards, more importantly, if one company operates
outside its national border. Global responsibility is
anemerging concern today. Stakeholder-centered
organizations look at the impacts of company decisions
on the multiple groups of stakeholders, inside and
outside the organization. This is likewise very vital since
there is no single universal recipe nor view of what is
generally accepted as right or wrong in the world. To
address the different ethical perspectives, ethical
awareness must be embraced in each and every Exhibit 3.3 
organization. Basic Elements of Learning (Hitt, Miller &
Collela, 2012)
Module 3  Definition and Nature of Learning 
LEARNING AND PERCEPTION  Learning can be defined as a process of
changing one’s behavior as a result of a previously
Module Introduction  encountered positive or negative situation.
Learning is a continuous and never ending Learning is evident only if one exhibits change of
process. This is a lifelong process. To be behavior. This change is relatively permanent and
competitive, organizations must also take into requires practice or experience. Along the process
account that people in the workplace have their of learning, one’s feelings can be too influencing.
own behavior and perceptions on things based on As some individuals earn, their sense of
what they have learned through experiences, achievement can boost their confidence. While for
observations and others. Further, the management others, this can be frustrating as changes also
needs to understand the principles and processes create new knowledge about things that they were
that govern an individual's learning. Effective not used to. Some see these changes awkward to
managers acquire talents who are willing   them. Generally, learning is powerful. 
to learn and grow. While relative to learning is the Most people think that learning comes from
concept of perception. Using our senses, we then formal school, i.e. through teaching or training,  but
process the ideas in our mind, create decisions and learning can also occur from experiences and even
behave accordingly. This chapter primarily deals observations. Learning in the workplace occurs in
with the concepts of learning and perception. We day to day work demands that employees
aim to lay down conditions anchored from various experience, e.g. creating solutions to problems and
theories which could be of help to learning. We dealings with the clients or customers. 
shall also  focus on perceptions of people and
different perceptions can indirectly create a firm's Models of Learning: Theories and Conditions 
human  capital. Problems encountered regarding
learning and perceptions are also important
concepts to look at. 

LEARNING: DEFINITION, NATURE AND

THEORIES 
Learning is part of everyone’s human life.
Everyday, people get to learn as they go along
their journey. In organizational behavior, the
formula for learning can be written as Situation +
Behavioral Response + Consequence of
Response = Learning. When a child sees a dog
from afar (situation), out of so much fear he runs
away as fast as he could (behavioral response).
The dog then ran after him, till the child was
chased and got bitten (consequence of response).
Now, how can the child learn from this
 The models of learning can be best a limited part of the total learning of individuals.
understood through the development of modern B.F. Skinner argued that classical conditioning
behavioral learning theory. This reflects the four cannot explain a much larger and complex
stages of the development in research as regards learning. Thus, it led to some more theories
learning.  relative to learning. 

Thorndyke’s Law of Effect 

The Law of effect by Edward Thorndike
suggests that those responses in a given situation
accompanied or followed by satisfying effect
(reinforcement) will have more likelihood of 
recurrence, while those accompanied or followed
by discomforting effect (punishment) shall reduce
the likelihood that the said response will be
repeated. This principle was noted by Thorndyke in
his experiment with animals. He found out that
learning occurs through trial and error. When one
response results in a reward, there is a high
chance of repeated behavior and otherwise. 
Thorndyke’s law of effect has led to the
development of operant conditioning. 

Operant Conditioning 
While classical conditioning is dependent on the
development of associations between situations
(stimulus-response bond), learning that occurs from
Exhibit 3.2  the consequences of behavior is the idea of
The Development of Modern Behavioral operant conditioning (response-stimulus bond). In
Learning Theory  operant conditioning, there must be  a positive
response in a given situation to lead to a reward.
(Attribution: Copyright Rice University,
Learning by consequence was developed by B.F.
OpenStax, under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license)
Skinner. He has proven this with his experiment on
animals whereby animals have associated a
Classical Conditioning  positive or negative response to a reward or
Classical conditioning was developed by punishment respectively. 
a Russian classical behaviorist, Ivan Pavlov. It was When a given behavioral response results
defined as a process in which S-R connection or in a pleasant consequence, the tendency that the
stimulus-response connection shows that  when a said behavior will be repeated is high. For instance,
neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned an employee who gets rewarded for a job  well
stimulus, it becomes a conditioned stimulus done or reports submitted ahead of time is more
resulting in a conditioned response. Pavlov likely to repeat the behavior in similar situations.
conducted this experiment with dogs. He tried This is the concept of positive reinforcement. It is
presenting meat powder (unconditioned stimulus) a reinforcement contingency whereby a behavior in
to the dog which eventually resulted in the  dog's a particular situation is followed by a positive
salivation (unconditioned response). Next, when he consequence, thus, strengthening the probability
rang a bell (neutral response), there  was no that the behavior will be repeated. In a similar way,
salivation. Pavlov tried associating the ring of a bell negative reinforcement is also effective in
with a coming food. He rang the bell  with the increasing the likelihood of repeated behavior.
accompanying meat. After being repeated several Negative reinforcement is another reinforcement
times, the dog salivated. Thenext time  Pavlov tried contingency in which a behavior is followed by the
ringing a bell, he did not present any meat, but the prevention or withdrawal of a previously
dog still salivated. The ring of a bell (now, a encountered negative consequence, thus,
conditioned stimulus), classically conditioned the strengthening  the probability that the behavior will
dog salivation (conditioned response).  be repeated. Employees who report to work early
However, this theory has also been (behavior)  removes the employer's habit of
criticized by other psychologists as it only explains nagging all day long in the office (withdrawal ofthe
negative consequence). Ergo, employees try to go
Type of  Nature of Example
to work everyday to minimize the unpleasant
Intermittent  Reinforcement 
consequences. 
On the other hand, punishment exists to stop Schedule
the repeated behavior for similar
1. Fixed Behavior is Daily pay,
situations by introducing a negative consequence.
An example of this is an employee who gets a Interval  rewarded Weekly pay, 
Sched based on a Periodical
salary deduction everytime he comes to work late.
The negative consequence, i.e. salary deduction ule fixed examinations
amount of of 
will lead to a lesser frequency of reporting to work
late. Punishment, however, must be utilized time students
appropriately by the organizations in particular
2. Reinforcem Random
situations. As punishment gives negative
Variable ent is made monthly
consequences to individuals, it creates various
interval available observatio
impressions to those who experienced being
Schedul based on n and
punished and those who have seen the process of
e unpredictab performan
punishing others. Since punishment seems to be
le time ce
challenging for some to implement, another
monitoring
reinforcement contingency was developed. This is
as part of
known as extinction. It refers to the procedure
employee
whereby a behavior is followed  
recognition
by the withdrawal of a previously encountered
program,
pleasant consequence, thus, reducing the 
unannounc
probability that the undesirable behavior will be
ed quizzes
repeated. For example, employees are usedto
in class
sending emails to the employer anytime they have
personal issues and concerns, not considering  3. Fixed Reward is Piece-rate
whether this is within office hours, early in the ratio  based from pay
morning or late at night. This has been habitual to the set or
schedu
most of the employees since the employer regularly fixed
le
sends responses. Eventually, it becomes a  bit number of
cumbersome to the employer. To cease this times that
behavior portrayed by the employees, it began to a 
be no longer reinforced. The employer stopped behavior is
responding to emails, until the employees done
themselves withdrew the said behavior. 
In operant conditioning, a reinforcement 4. Variable Reward is Lottery,
schedule is used to control the frequency of ratio  based on the  gambling
reinforcement for the desired behavior. Generally, performance of activities,
there are two types of reinforcement schedule.  the desired  rewards
Continuous reinforcement is a schedule in which behavior an given
the reward immediately follows a given  behavior. unpredictable unpredictabl
This is the simplest type as it is very easy to number of y, often
understand. After the performance of each  desired times applicable
behavior, the reward is given. This is an easy and to business
effective tool when teaching anew behavior. On the organization
other hand, intermittent reinforcement is a particularly
schedule in which the reward does  not in giving
immediately follow after each behavior, but only sales
after a certain ratio or interval of responses. Shown bonuses
in Exhibit 3.3 are the four intermittent schedules.
Exhibit 3.3 : Types of Intermittent Schedule 

Each of the reinforcement schedules is

advantageous. Ratio schedules are more on
response-contingent while interval schedules are
time-contingent. This means that when rewards 
are given based on time (interval : hourly, monthly) knowledge can be found in individuals and groups,
and independent of the employee behavior, it  systems and structures.  
would often result in a weakened desired behavior. Hence, they need to ensure that knowledge is
An employee who is paid based on the number of retained and utilized in the organization.
outputs he/she produces is more likely to perform Knowledge management as defined by Tom
better.  Davenport is the process of capturing, distributing,
and effectively using knowledge. It involves
Social Learning Theory  processes, strategies and systems of knowledge
Social Learning Theory, developed by acquisition, creation, refinement, storage, transfer,
Psychologist Albert Bandura, suggests that sharing and utilization. Through knowledge
individuals learns through observations as they management, organization’s knowledge assets are
interact with others. This theory argues that the improved and made available for greater
learning process does not require one to productivity and organizational performance.
experience a given situation for them to learn and Moreover, knowledge management is an
change his behavior. While other psychologists organizational activity wherein the management is
explain that the concept of learning from tasked to ensure employee participation in
consequences,   achieving the goals and purpose of knowledge
this theory focuses on learning from others which management. Ikujiro Nonaka, one of the early
results to imitated behaviors. Further, social  founders of the concept of knowledge
learning theory acknowledges cognitive process management explains that knowledge is “one sure
and refuses to agree on the ideathat higher mental source of the lasting competitive advantage” of the
process is irrelevant in learning process.  organization. 
Human resources as organization’s assets are
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT  likewise associated with the term
Knowledge is often defined as “justified knowledge management. It encompasses the
true belief” based from the old traditions in the individuals’ knowledge acquired and made
philosophy of knowledge. According to Plato, available for the organization. Hence, it is crucial
Knowledge is the set of beliefs that are true for the management to create a culture where
and that we are justified in believing.  learning and knowledge sharing is a priority of its
Peter Drucker, management guru, on the people. 
other hand, defined knowledge as “information in
action, information focused in results.” The way ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING: TYPES AND
knowledge is important in everyday usage, PRINCIPLES 
knowledge is vital in every organization. Gained Organizational learning is viewed as one of
knowledge provides value in the businesses. In the the goals of knowledge management. Researches
context of organizational behavior, knowledge have shown that a relationship between the two
needs to be managed properly since it is acquired concepts exists. Organizational Learning is a
and transmitted by individuals and groups in the process whereby knowledge is created, utilized
organization.  and transferred within the organization. Ergo, an
First, knowledge is classified into three : organization that is able to create, use, share
explicit, tacit and implicit. Explicit knowledge knowledge and make necessary changes to arrive
includes words and statements which can be at a new knowledge is coined as a learning
documented. Thus, this type of knowledge is easy organization. 
to share with others. Examples are company
policies and procedures, written company reports, Types of Organizational Learning 
and researches. Knowledge that is difficult to James March, an American sociologist,
articulate and be presented in tangible or written proposed two principal types of organizational
form is known as tacit knowledge. It is also learning strategies that management may consider.
referred to as knowledge of experience or the (1) Exploration of new possibilities involves
“know how”. This tends to become subjective and searching, experimenting, innovating and
personal. On the other hand, implicit knowledge is   developing new routines and behaviors to increase
application of explicit knowledge. Skills that can be effectiveness. Under this type of organizational
transferred from one job to another are considered learning, organization members invest resources  
implicit knowledge. Knowledge is anywhere in the looking and taking risks to try new alternative ways
organization. Management must  understand that and practices; although returns are uncertain,  it’s
benefits are long-term in nature. (2) Exploitation of
old certainties, on the other hand, focuses  on the involves collective and shared learning as groups
existing routines and procedures for efficiency and interact and eventually learn from one
productivity. Returns are more  predictable since another. Team learning also depends on mental
exploitation looks at the existing competencies, and models and personal mastery. 
simply, concentrates on 
refining and improving them. Thus, it involves total All these principles are interrelated
quality management. Exploration and  exploitation although these are a bit challenging for the
are equally important in the organization, however organizations. Implementation of the five principles
the managementis responsible in keeping a results in a continuous learning process and a
balance between the two organizational learning competitive business organization. 
strategies. 
LEARNING STYLES 
Principles of the Learning Organizational  Learning styles vary from one person to
Peter Senge, in his book “The Fifth another. Each individual has his preference on the
Discipline” developed the five principles of the methods, approaches and ways of learning. 
learning organization. 
Systems Thinking. This principle stresses David Kolb’s Model of Learning Style 
on looking at a big picture of the organization as a One of the most known theories on
whole. It focuses on a larger system where learning styles was developed by Davis Kolb. He
individuals and groups interact, thus, affecting one suggests that learning is a cycle having four
another. The management must put emphasis on stages. He likewise proposes four independent
understanding each action and consequences as it learning styles. 
observes the processes in the entire system. This
results in more appropriate solutions and sound Kolb’s Learning Cycle 
decisions. Senge further argues that outside The four stages include: 
forces, e.g. economy, environment, etc., should be 1. Concrete Experience. This is the first
considered in arriving at a long term systemic stage in which it involves having a new
solution.  experience is introduced or
Personal Mastery. Individuals of high level encountered by the individual. It could
of mastery, i.e. with clear vision and goals, and also be a reinterpretation of an existing
aware of their capabilities, tend to become creative experience. 
in the workplace. Senge suggests that since there 2. Reflective Observation. This stage is the
is a need for the individuals to develop their beginning of one’s reflection of his
personal mastery, management must take part in experience to have a greater
empowering them to create and explore what they understanding. 
can and what they want. 
3. Abstract Conceptualization. After
Mental Models. Senge defined mental reviewing the encountered experience,
models as the process of challenging one’s the individual concludes and eventually
personal assumptions about the others. In the comes up with a new idea or concept.
process of developing personal mastery, it goes This stage is known as abstract
hand in hand with organizations using mental conceptualization. 
models to provide individuals the opportunity to 4. Active Experimentation. This stage
assume more responsibility in decision making. involves the application or practice of
Indeed, those organizations who are able to adapt the new concept. The outcomes are
to new models become successful organizations.  then observed and tested. 
Building a shared vision. Senge believes
that paying attention to a well established and 
Generally, learning according to Kolb
clear vision is part of creating a learning
involves experiencing, reflecting, conceptualizing
organization. This principle emphasizes that
and testing. 
building a  shared vision provides a guide to
managing employee behaviors. When personal
Kolb’s Learning Styles 
values jibe with the organizational vision, it fosters
a greater possibility of goal achievement.  Based on the four stages of learning, Kolb
arrived with the four independent learning styles. 
Team Learning. This principle values the
importance of groups in the learning process. It
 prefer to learn through lectures, reading
and analyzing. This learning style is
significant to the field of science. 
Active Reflective
Experimentati Observatio
on Doing n
(Watching)
The Seven Learning Styles 
Concrete Accomodating Diverging
Experience (CE/AE) (CE/RO) The Memletic Learning Styles Inventory by
(Feeling) Sean Whiteley includes seven learning styles and
Abstract Converging Assimilatin thus more popularly known as The Seven
Conceptualizati (AC/AE) g (AC/RO) Learning Styles. This was based on the multiple
on (Thinking intelligence theory of Howard Gardner. 
Exhibit 3.4 
Exhibit 3.5 
Matrix of Kolb’s Learning Styles 
The Seven Learning Styles
1. Accommodating (Feeling and Doing). This Learning Nature of Skills
learning style corresponds to the first and Style  Learning  Learned
fourth stages of learning. Individuals who
prefer this learning style are “hands-on” 1. Visual Individual Drawing,
Accommodating learners rely on gut-feel (Spatial)  s prefer to painting, 
and are open to new experiences. Their learn designing,
actions are based mostly on intuition rather through sense of 
than logic.  images direction
2. Diverging (Feeling and Watching). Diverging and are
learners prefer concrete experiences and are good at
able to reflect on various perspectives, as imagining
based on the first two stages of learning. different
Individuals using this learning style are good at physical
imagination and generation of new ideas. They configurati
are good at brainstorming and are generally on.
artistic. 
2. Aural  Individual Singing,
3. Converging (Thinking and Doing). This
(Auditory/ s prefer playing
learning style is based from the third and fourth 
Musical) to learn musical
stages of learning. It enables individuals
through instruments
specialist and technical abilities. People with
sounds ,
this  learning style best perform in solving
and tend understandi
problems and finding solutions to
to think ng music
practicalissues.  They prefer experimenting,
in 
simulating and applying ideas to practical,
“hands-on  rhythms and
patterns.
solutions. Their actions focus on technical
tasks and not so much with interpersonal 3. Verbal Individual Speaking,
aspects.  (Linguistic)  s prefer explaining, 
4. Assimilating (Thinking and Watching). This to learn writing,
corresponds to the second and third stages  of through persuading, 
learning. People with assimilating learning words listening and
styles are logical. To arrive with ideas, they  and storytelling
follow logic in processing information. Similar to language.
convergence, they also do not focus on  people
and interpersonal aspects.However, they 4. Physical  Individual Dancing,
require a clearer and logical explanation  than a (Kinaesthet s prefer acting,
practical opportunity. They are primarily ics) to learn physical
focusing on ideas and concepts. They  through coordinati
 Inspired by Kolb’s Learning Styles, Peter
sense of on, using
Honey and Alan Mumford developed Honey and 
touch, body
Mumford Learning Styles. This learning style is a
balance language
simplified model of Kolb’s Learning Styles. The four
and , playing
learning styles are: 
coordinati sports
on, and 1. Activists. These learners prefer new challenges
are good and experiences. They enjoy learning by 
at doing. They are good at brainstorming, role
controllin playing and competitions. Activists are flexible
g their and open-minded. 
bodies. 2. Reflectors. These individuals learn by watching
others. They are keen observers and gather
enough information before arriving into
conclusions. Reflectors prefer coaching
5. Logical  Individual Problem sessions, observations, self analysis and
(Mathemat s prefer solving, paired discussions. 
ical) to learn drawing 3. Theorists. These are logical individuals and
through logical have the tendency of being perfectionists.
the use of conclusions They value rationality and objectivity and they
reasoning , doing enjoy assimilating disparate facts into coherent
and logic. mathematic theories. They prefer models, theories,
al statistics, storytelling, quotes and systems
calculations thinking. 
, 4. Pragmatists. These learners prefer to try new
experimenti experiments and apply the learning into
ng practice as they want to see things put in
actions and know if they work in the real world.
6. Social  Individual Good public Pragmatists act quickly on ideas, however,
(Interpers s prefer relations,  they easily get bored in long-term discussions.
onal) to learn listening, Case studies and practical problem solving are
through conflict  suited to them.
sensing resolution,
and empathy, 
relating communicatio
with n
others,
and
seeing
things in
multiple
perspecti
ves.

7. Solitary  Individual Self analysis

(Intrapers s prefer and 
onal) to learn awaren
through ess, Exhibit 3.6 
self evaluati Honey and Mumford Learning Styles 
reflection. ng
one’s BASIC CONCEPTS OF PERCEPTION 
thought People may like or dislike others whom
s they met the first time because they may be
perceived of having the same or different
characteristics respectively. Perhaps, perceptions
of individuals really create the first impressions.
Honey and Mumford Learning Styles  And these perceptions often result in judgements
and behaviors. While humans think and see others sense input can also affect his perception.
in different perspectives, it is important to study When people expect and prepare for a
and analyze perceptual processes. Thus, when we stimulus, attention and focus is given. 
solely use our senses without looking at the full 2. Psychological Factors. These factors include
range of data, there comes inaccuracy in our personality, motivation, needs and
perceptions about and towards other people.  expectations, interests and others. For
Perception refers to the process by which example, when one is motivated to work for
an individual senses the environment, interprets him to receive the needed bonus, his focus will
and transforms the inputs to meaningful be on the tasks among any other things around
information for appropriate behavioral response. him in the workplace. 
This is how people interpret sensory data. 3. Perceptual Learning. This refers to the process
Perceptual process includes receiving, selecting, by which one’s ability to sense and respond to
organizing and interpreting the inputs through a stimuli is enhanced through experience.
person's senses. In organizational behavior, there Example of perceptual learning is a full-fledged
is really a need to understand the role of teacher in classroom performing than a
perception. The three components of perception common teacher who was not exposed to
includes (1) the perceiver or the person who training and teaching pedagogy. Another is a
interprets the inputs from his/her senses, (2) the person who is able to distinguish differences
target, anyone or anything that a person focuses between shades of color blue. 
on and (3) the situation wherein the perception is 4. Cultural Differences. Culture and diversity also
taking place.  affect individuals’ perception. This becomes a
problem when stereotyping occurs. 
Selective Attention 
With the voluminous information that goes PERCEPTUAL DISTORTION AND ERRORS 
through our senses, we get bombarded with lots of Social perception is the process through
thoughts and stimuli, and emotions as well. which sensory data are interpreted to create
Hence, we fail to look at much important impression towards other people. When we
information. Theorists have explained that misjudge and conclude wrongfully, they are likely
individuals are actually capable of screening and to persist.Problems and biases occur because
selecting objects that vie attention. This is known selectivity exists in the perceptual process. There
as perceptual selectivity or selective attention. is a need to address these perceptual distortions
Selective attention is the process in which and errors to reduce inaccurate perception and
individuals select and direct attention to specific judgements. 
objects in the environment. Thus, it leads to what a 1. Attribution Theory. Attributions are
person opt to learn and remember. A person who explanations of what have caused events and
watches a demonstration does not mind the noise behaviors. Attribution theory is concerned on
of people chatting around nor the sound of the how people explain the causes of behaviors. 
vehicles passing by. This process then allows People's attributions can be internal or external.
individuals to direct and focus their   Internal or dispositional attribution relates 
attention to achieve target learning. It also suggests people’s behavior to the characteristics and
that the limited capacity of people to focus  their traits of an individual. While external or 
attention can be conceptualized as a bottleneck situational attribution relates the causes of
that restricts the flow of information. Ergo, the behavior to external forces and environment.
narrower the bottleneck, the lower the rate of flow Attributional biases include (1) Fundamental
of information.  Attribution Error - perception problem  wherein
the person tends to over attribute the behavior
Factors Affecting Perception  of others to internal causes rather than external
The way an individual perceives is affected and (2) Self-serving bias - a perceptual error in
by several factors. Even if there is one and the which the individual attributes success to
same stimulus, people may perceive it differently.  internal factors but blame others for failures. 
1. Sensory Limits or Thresholds. Individuals vary 2. Selective Perception. Since people selectively
on the limits of their sensing capabilities. For interpret what they see, hear or feel, especially
some, watching a TV show on a bigger screen from the basis of what they need or have
with loud sounds seems to be enjoyable  and interest in, they tend to ignore other
exciting, while for others it is irritating and viewpoints, consciously and unconsciously. 
unpleasant. Further, a person’s readiness to
 3. Halo Effect. Thorndike has first used the already understood that this is one  of the
term “halo effect”. It is a perception problem in roadblocks to diversity. Stereotyping occurs
which people are assessed based solely from when individuals meet a person belonging to a
one positive or negative trait or particular group and perceive that this person
characteristic they possess. This leads to a has the same and general characteristics
general impression of individuals while their attributed to the group. Stereotypes then miss
specific characteristics are missed and the unique characteristics of a person leading
overlooked. This cognitive bias tends to to inaccurate perception. 
create inaccurate perceptions. Often, 7. Self-fulfilling Prophecy. It is also known as
physical attributes of a person become part “phygmalion effect”, a psychological
of the halo effect. When one is seemingly phenomenon in which high expectations
of good posture, nice and well-dressed, results in greater performance. Self-fulfilling
people perceive him/her as a smart person. prophecy predicts that something will come
In contrast (usually known as “horn effect”), true because the perceiver expects and
a student who comes to school late is believes it to come true. The failures of bank
perceived by his teacher as a lazy poor during the Great Depression is a classic
performer in class. This is a big problem example of this perceptual error.
when the interviewer during the selection
process gets impressed by a single trait
and the applicant gets hired without being
evaluated for his specific qualifications.  Module 4 
4. Contrast Effects. It is a perceptual error in PERSONALITY, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIOR 
which the person’s perceptions of others affect 
his perception of an individual that he is trying Module Introduction 
to assess. The evaluation then is influenced by Individuals are truly unique in their own
the comparison with persons who were ways. Each one of us has our set of preferences
previously encountered. For instance, a  regarding what we like to do, whom we want to be,
manager is rating his employee based on the and whom we want to be with. Even what we 
performance of the recently evaluated  prefer to eat and drink can probably differ from the
employee. Instead of looking at the standard others. Basically, our individual attributes and  traits
criteria, the manager tends to compare the  can affect our actions and behaviors towards other
performance of the employee with the other. So people and events. Often, we are used to tagging
if one is rated A+, and the following  employee along with people having the same characteristics
is seemingly on the average, he will be graded as us, and ignoring those who are different. 
very low since the previous is  In the workplace setting, it is important to
outstanding.  consider one’s personality to further understand 
5. Projection. This is a common perceptual error in their consequent attitudes and behaviors, more
which people assume that their own importantly, since it does vary from one person to
characteristics are shared by others. Projecting another. As this chapter deals with the discussion
people think and attribute others’ values and of the fundamentals of personality, it also  targets
beliefs to themselves. For example, a student to bring excitement to the students as they discover
who studies very well thinks that others  do the their distinct personality types and  eventually, see
same way and that he must double his effort to and understand others’ uniqueness too.
be competitive. While a student who gets low Personality, attitudes, and behavior shall be
scores in examinations tends to think that those distinguished from one another during the course of
who score high are  wasting their time and the discussion. 
efforts because at the end of the day, the
bottomline is they will both graduate from the Topic Outcomes 
same degree. Projecting people often After reading and understanding this module,
overestimate or underestimate the projection students will be able to: 
itself. It follows the saying, “to an honest man, 1. Differentiate between Big Five Personality
everybody is honest.” This can be addressed Traits and the MBTI; 
through empathy and self awareness. 
2. Describe the determinants of personality
6. Stereotyping. As discussed earlier, stereotyping development; and 
is a set of generalized and inaccurate beliefs
3. Analyze the importance of attitude and
about the characteristics of a certain group. It is
behavior in the workplace. 
THE MEANING AND CONCEPTS OF Big Five Personality Traits 
PERSONALITY  Among the many theories and models on
Personality is a term often widely used to personality, the Big Five Personality Traits, also
explain why a person thinks, acts or behaves in a known as OCEAN model, is the most widely used
particular manner. This drives a person to his and accepted by psychologists. According to this
attitude and behavior towards other individuals,  model, each of the O-C-E-A-N traits represents a
events and situations. Personality refers to the continuum wherein individuals may fall  anywhere
stable dominant traits and qualities of an  individual here. These traits are stable throughout the lifetime
which results in a consistently manifested behavior of a person and are influenced both  by heredity
towards people and across various situations. This and environmental factors. OCEAN is an acronym
makes up a person’s uniqueness. For instance, a that stands for openness, consciousness,
sociable person may be seen  performing better in extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. 
groups and teams. In addition, he can easily gain Openness to Experience. This refers to
the company of people  even in new places. On the the degree to which a person is willing to embrace
other hand, an individual who is an introvert may changes and take on new experiences. People
prefer working productively on his own. You could who score high on this are daring, creative
expect him to be behind the stage. In thinkers, and spontaneous. While those who are
organizations, introverts  are often found in the low on this prefer going on routines and are less
back office, e.g. accounting office. Apparently, their likely to cope with changes. 
behaviors reflect their personality respectively.  Conscientiousness. This refers to the
The individual personality is influenced degree to which a person is in control and
by several factors. These are coined as discipline in working on specific goals. This
determinants of personality.  measures how competent and organized an
1. Heredity. In biology, this is our inheritance from individual is. Those who are high in
our parents. Heredity is the passing of the conscientiousness have a clear direction and are
parents’ traits to their children. Physical traits mindful of the things related to completing a given
like hair color and height are common inherited task. Its opposites include disorganized and
characteristics. Genes can likewise play a role impulsive individuals. 
in the individual’s personality. Although, it is a Extraversion. This refers to the degree to
fact that not everything learned is by birth.  which a person seeks energy from the social
2. Environment. As individuals grow, they are environment through interactions. Extroverts are
exposed to different conditions and situations  outgoing people. They prefer being surrounded by
in the environment. People, especially during people and are considered as “life of the party.” On
the early development stage, consider their  the other hand, introverts are quiet and reserved.
families, friends, and other social groups They work well in solitude. They do not often
responsible for shaping their personalities. In  engage in small talk and find social gatherings a
essence, culture is an important determinant of bit tiring. Thus, they require quite some time to
personality. What is considered  acceptable in a regain energy on their own. 
particular group may determine how its people Agreeableness. This refers to the degree
will act and behave  consequently. Further, as to which a person goes well with other people. This
people grow into adulthood, their experiences is different from extraversion in such a way that
also shape their  agreeableness focuses more on creating genuine
personalities.  relationships, helping others, and being sensitive
to what others feel. People who score high on this
Personality plays a vital role in organizational are forgiving, empathic, and modest. In contrast,
behavior. The management must ensure people who are low on this are rude, stubborn, and
that the individuals in the organization have a good demanding. Teamwork is fostered by individuals
understanding and recognition of what their who are high in agreeableness. While the
personalities are. This will lead them to a clear opposites tend to be antagonistic. 
vision of what they want to achieve since they Neuroticism. Also known as emotional
have identified where they are good at. Moreover, stability, this refers to the degree to which a person
their personality will also determine what certain is able to respond in stressful and difficult
things can motivate them. The management shall situations. Emotionally stable individuals perform
then be able to place them in jobs where they can better in the workplace even during stressful days
perform better and comfortably.  with high job demands. Those who score low are
emotionally stable, calm, and resilient. On the
other hand, people who score high in neuroticism Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) : How do
are irritable, hostile, and vulnerable.  you organize your environment? Judgers are
Research by Soto & John in 2012 has definite with their goals, organized and regulated.
shown the trends of the Big Five Personality Perceivers are flexible, easy going, and
Traits.  It was found that the degree of spontaneous-oriented. 
agreeableness and conscientiousness of
individuals eventually  increases as they get older.
While for extraversion, no significant trend was Other Organizational Relevant Personality
found, however, there  is an increase in Traits 
assertiveness. When individuals reach 1. Locus of Control. This personality concept
adolescence to middle adulthood, their  refers to the degree to which one believes that
openness and neuroticism gradually decrease.  causes and controls of events, situations, or
experiences are attributed to either himself or
external forces. The locus of control is
classified into two. That ( 1 ) internals believe
The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) that they are in control of what happens to their
The Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is lives. They think that they can be  
a personality test created by Isabel Myers and successful if they exert effort and perform
Katherine Briggs. They based their 100-item well. On the other hand, (2) externals tend
personality test on the theory pioneered by Carl  to  attribute their experiences to external
Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist. According to Jung, factors. This could either be attributed to
individuals may either be of extravert or introvert  luck or fate.  These individuals believe that
type and had two basic mental processes, i.e. they are not in control and are actually
perception and judgment. He divided perception  helpless. Internals are more motivated than
into sensing and intuiting while judgment into externals. 
thinking and feeling to come up with four
2. Self-monitoring. It is a personality trait in which
personality dimensions. The traits now include (1)
an individual tries to understand the social 
introversion/extraversion, (2) perceiving/judging,
situation and regulates his behavior for him to
(3)  sensing/ intuition, and (4) thinking/feeling. It is
fit in a particular situation. A person with high
important to note that individual preference does 
self-monitoring can easily cope with situations
not necessarily mean that one is better than the
because they tend to read the  nonverbal
other. It means they are only different. MBTI is
behavior of other people and eventually alter
aimed at understanding people and making it
his own for him to be able to present an image
useful to everydaylives. 
that the situation is expecting him to portray.
After the assessment, the participant will be Thus, this type of person gains more friends, in
given a four-letter code, e.g. INFJ, ESFP, and contrast with people with low self-monitoring.
ISTJ, which corresponds to each of the four High self-monitors are  flexible and can adapt to
categories (1) I/E, (2) S/N, (3) T/F, and (4) P/J. 16 different situations. Low self-monitors do not
Personality Types may be identified using MBTI care whether they  are conforming to the norms
Assessment. MBTI Assessment is valid and and just act themselves out. They do not tend
reliable, hence, many people have relied on this to change for  a particular situation and believe
personality test.  that they are consistent. While low self-monitors
Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): What are coined insensitive, high self-monitors are
makes you excited and energetic? Extraverts seek often called superficial. 
energy from the social environment while introverts
3. Self-esteem. This refers to the extent to which
get energy in solitude. Sensing (S) vs. Intuition
an individual is confident in his or herself.
(N): How do you gather information? Sensors
Individuals with high self-esteem believe in
prefer using their  senses in collecting information
their capabilities and that they have
from the environment. Intuitive use their “sixth
what it takes to become successful. While,
sense”, and looks at the overall context, insights,
people with low self-esteem often do not
and hunches. 
see their worth, dislike themselves, and
Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) : What do you prefer to seek the approval of other people
value during decision-making? Thinkers find the as they  make decisions. 
most logical solutions when creating decisions and
judgments. Feelers consider their emotions and 4. Machiavellianism. This personality trait
tend to be subjective in the decision-making involves being manipulative and emotionally
process.  distant. High Machs or the Machiavellians are
 emotionally detached but utilize their charm to 3. Behavioral element. This is the person’s
win and persuade other people.  intent to behave in a particular manner
5. Type A and B Personalities. Friedman and towards a person, object, or idea.
Rosenman, medical doctors, identified two One’s behavior is very much dependent
types of personality that were particularly on how he/she likes or dislikes a
concerned with how individuals manage specific thing. 
stressful situations. They discovered that
people with Type A personalities are Attitude can be formed through various
competitive, with a sense of urgency, and approaches. 
short-tempered. They quickly react to 1. Dispositional approach explains attitudes are
situations and are generally impatient. While actually viewed as personality traits. It explains
Type B individuals are the opposite. They also that a relatively stable disposition to behave in
have the drive for ambitions but are more a particular situation is represented by attitude.
relaxed and easygoing. The two cardiologists This means that having a predisposition in a
explained that Type A individuals are more job (whether being satisfied or not) disregards
prone to heart diseases than Type B the actual nature of work. Attitude is not
individuals. This approach, however, has been dependent on the actual job but on the
criticized by many since people do not actually predisposition of the individual. Thus,
all fit these personality types.  employers must hire
individuals with appropriate and proper
EMPLOYEE ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR  dispositions towards their job. 
Attitude refers to the predisposition of an 2. Situational approach suggests that attitude is on
individual to behave towards a person, object or a case-to-case basis. This means that attitude
idea. This is what a person thinks in a particular occurs based on a given situation and that it
situation. While behavior can be defined simply as could change if the situation will be likewise
the actions of individuals in response to a particular changed. For instance, if an employee has a
situation. It is the way an individual acts out his positive attitude in his job because he has a
feelings and thoughts. Attitude determines good supervisor, his attitude may change when
behavior. Whenever a person has a preference his supervisor is no longer good or the
over something, for instance, liking or disliking a supervisor himself is already replaced with
particular food cuisine, he or she is expressing an another one. In general, changing the situation
attitude. Basically, attitudes tend to be permanent can change attitudes too. 
or stable. These are directed and related to one’s 3. Social-information-processing approach. This
behavior towards a person, object or idea. In the approach is a more complicated process in
workplace, individuals may   forming attitudes. Social-information-processing
also have an attitude concerning their jobs. Work means that the social context in which a person
attitudes are defined as the set of beliefs, is in develops his perceptions of the situation,
feelings, and thoughts on how people are to and so is his attitude. For instance,  a new
behave vis-a-vis their job and the organization. Job member was introduced to a team (social
satisfaction and organizational commitment were context), and the old members explain and
identified as important employee attitudes to deal orient him to the work situation, e.g. perks and
with in organizational behavior.  bonuses (information concerning the event), the
individual then forms a new attitude aligned
But first, let us discuss how attitudes are with his teammates. 
formed. Understanding attitude formation is
fundamental in knowing how to apply attitude Job Satisfaction 
concepts to organizational issues. Attitudes have Job satisfaction can be defined as the
three basic elements.  state of fulfillment of an individual toward his/her
job. Since it is often associated with various
1. Cognitive element. This is composed of employee behaviors in the workplace, this has
collected information that individuals been considered one of the most examined
consider about a person, object or attitudes in organizational behavior. Extant
idea.  literature showed that job satisfaction is linked to
2. Affective element. This includes the employee performance, organizational
feelings of an individual towards a commitment, employee turnover intention,
person, object, or idea.  employee retention, motivation, and more. Hence,
maintaining a high level of job satisfaction is Organizational Commitment 
significant to any organization. Job satisfaction Several studies have shown that job
results from the feeling that one has towards what satisfaction is related to another employee attitude
he expects and receives from his current job.  in the workplace known as organizational
Five job dimensions were identified to commitment. This employee attitude can be
represent the job characteristics in which defined as the psychological state of an individual
employees are influenced.  to get attached to the organization for certain
1. Work itself. This is the extent to which a reasons.  According to John Meyer and Natalie
person’s job is providing him with engaging Allen, organizational commitment has three
activities, and opportunities to learn and components. 
accept responsibility.  1. Affective commitment. It refers to the strong
2. Pay. This is the financial amount given to the attachment of an individual to his job. People
individual as a form of remuneration with the with high affective commitment value their
understanding that there is commensurate organization and are sincere in staying
pay equal to the job.  committed. 
3. Promotion opportunities. This is the chance 2. Continuance commitment. This is a commitment
for an individual for career advancement in that results from the fear of losing the job
the organization.  without having better opportunities outside the
4. Supervision. This is the extent to which the organization. This is associated with the
supervisor is able to provide the employees individuals’ cost of leaving the organization. 
with the needed technical assistance and 3. Normative commitment. This refers to
support.  commitment due to a sense of obligation. One
5. Co-workers. This is the extent to which the is committed to the organization because of
peers or colleagues are socially supportive the pressure to stay, thinking that it is the right
and technically proficient.  thing to do. 

To measure job satisfaction several Management needs to create strategies to

instruments have been developed throughout the promote the affective commitment of  employees to
years. The two popular job satisfaction that can be the organization. Research showed that employees
used widely are the MSQ or Minnesota  who are satisfied with their jobs also have a high
SatisfactionQuestionnaire and Paul E. Spector JSS affective commitment. On the other hand,
or Job Satisfaction Model.  continuance commitment and  normative
Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire commitment can be reduced by identifying what
measures employee satisfaction as regards his/her  influenced them to be committed that way. 
job. This survey is in three forms. Two long
versions and one short questionnaire. Thi survey  Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) 
measures various aspects of a job to wit, Ability Organizational Citizenship Behavior or OCB
Utilization, Co-workers, Moral Values, refers to the discretionary, voluntary behavior  of
Achievement, Creativity, Recognition, Activity, people whereby they perform beyond what is
Independence, Responsibility, Advancement, expected of them. Although it is outside their job 
Security, Supervision—Human Relations, Authority, description or not required by their organization,
Social Service, Supervision--Technical, Company individuals who feel organizational citizenship go 
Policies, Social Status, Variety, Compensation, and beyond their motivation. This results in greater
Working Conditions.  satisfaction and performance. An employee 
According to Prof. Paul E. Spector, there are nine generously working overtime without expecting to
facets in which employee attitudes may  be get paid for it is an example of OCB. 
assessed. JSS is a 36-item questionnaire designed There are five dimensions of OCB as
to assess employee attitudes about their jobs and categorized by Organ. 
related aspects. JSS includes assessment of job 1. Altruism. This is characterized by the
satisfaction in terms of (1) Pay, (2) Promotion, (3) individual’s willingness to extend help to
Supervision, (4) Fringe Benefits, (5) Contingent others, especially the co-workers in the
Rewards (performance based organization. Offering assistance to other
rewards), (6) Operating Procedures (required employees with urgent deadlines is an
rules and procedures), (7) Coworkers, (8) Nature example of altruism. 
of Work, and (9) Communication.  2. Conscientiousness. This relates to genuine
compliance of an employee in carrying out
 his/her work, especially as regards spending conveyed because this can create an impact on
ample working hours for efficiency’s sake. their behaviors. 
Individuals who feel this OCB needs less When individuals are not able to portray the
supervision and can help employees manage emotion that they are actually feeling in a given
costs.  situation, they experience emotional labor. It is a
3. Sportsmanship. This is linked to how an process in which a person is expected to express
individual demonstrates a positive attitude and emotions contrary to what they really feel. Most
loyalty in the organization by avoiding employees in their jobs, particularly in customer
complaints on minor inconveniences. They are service and sales, experience emotional labor.
the ones that tolerate inevitable Regardless of what they actually feel towards the
inconveniences without complaining at all in clients, they must display positive emotions. 
their workplace.  Relatively, emotional intelligence (EI),
4. Civic Virtue. This includes strong support for also known as emotional quotient (EQ) refers to
the organizational policies. People with this the ability to recognize, monitor, and regulate own
OCB type take responsibility for the emotions and others as well. Daniel Goleman
organization. They generally have sincere identified five elements of emotional intelligence
concerns. 5. Courtesy. This is characterized by including: 
individuals taking necessary steps to avoid 1. Self-awareness. People with high self-
conflicts and problems and establishing good awareness recognize the effect of their
relationships instead. They are responsible for emotions and behaviors on the people
giving advice to other colleagues to prevent around them. 
future problems in the workplace. 2. Self-regulation. This refers to the
Organizational Citizenship behavior is individual’s ability to control his
found to enhance the levels of employee emotions. 3. Motivation. People with
performance and commitment that eventually high emotional intelligence are self-
result in the achievement of organizational goals.  motivated. They have the drive to
achieve their goals and perform at their
Cognitive Dissonance  best. 
Everyone wants to behave according to 4. Empathy. It is the ability to put oneself in
what they feel and think. As attitude determines the position of other people. Thus,
behavior, it is important that a person make actual those individuals with empathy are able
expressions out of it. However, there are instances to respond to the feelings of others. 
when people are not able to behave in a manner 5. Social skills. This is the ability of a person
that it is congruent with their attitudes. This to establish good relationships. People
condition leads to what is known as cognitive who are effective in relationship
dissonance. This refers to the mental discomfort management become change catalysts,
that an individual experiences when there is and  influencers, and can promote
attitude-behavior inconsistency. This means that a teamwork and collaboration.
person needs to behave in a way inconsistent with
his attitude which ends up with uneasy feelings, Module 5
regret, and sometimes embarrassment. When MOTIVATION IN THE WORKPLACE
people are faced with choices, creating decisions  
can also result in cognitive dissonance when the Topic Outcomes 
said decision is againstwhat he actually believes.  After reading and understanding this module,
students will be able to: 
Emotions, Emotional Labor, and Emotional 1. Describe the theories of motivation; and 
Intelligence  2. Analyze how motivation plays a big role in
Emotion refers to the strong feeling and organizational behavior. 
subjective reactions of an individual to particular
situations. Emotion is a psychological state.
THE MEANING AND NATURE OF
Reactions of individuals include happiness,
MOTIVATION 
sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise and are
Motivation in the workplace is defined as
known as the six basic emotions. Emotions have a 
the willingness to exert high levels of effort
critical role in our daily lives, including our work life.
toward organizational goals conditioned by the
People should understand how emotions are
effort’s ability to satisfy some individual needs
(Robbins in Mobbs and McFarland, 2010). It has
been a focus of research by experts for more Exhibit 5.1. 
than a century for the very reason that knowing Motivation
what drives people to do what they do because theories 
motivated employees result in better
organizational performance. Likewise, motivated
employees report having higher levels of
customer satisfaction and employee retention
(Campbell, n.d.). 
Most HR and talent management professionals
are aware of and have tried to apply many  of the
motivation theories that have been introduced
over the years. Most notable of them is Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs, Locke’s goal-setting theory,
Skinner’s reinforcement theory, Adam’s  equity
theory, and Vroom’s expectancy theory, to name
just a few, all made their way into  management
textbooks, all speculating on how to best motivate
employees to increase profits. 

Theories of motivation 
MOTIVATION theories can be distinguished
between content and process motivation theories.
Content theories which are also called the need
theories focus on WHAT, while process  theories
focus on HOW human behaviour is motivated.
Within the work environment content  theories
which are the earliest theories of motivation have
had the greatest impact on management practice
and policy, but are the least accepted in the
academic community. Though  content theories
cannot explain entirely what motivates and Maslow hierarchy of needs 
demotivates people, it tries to identify  what our This is the earliest and most widely known
needs are and relate motivation to the fulfillment theory of motivation, developed by Abraham
of these needs. Process theories are  concerned Maslow (1943) in the 1940s and 1950s.
with the occurrence of motivation and what According to Maslow, needs are classified into
influences the occurrence of motivation.  five basic  categories which are ordered in his
hierarchy, beginning with the basic psychological
The main content theories are Maslow’s needs and  continuing through safety, belonging
needs hierarchy, Alderfer’s ERG theory, and love, esteem, and self-actualization (Figure
McClelland’s achievement motivation and 2). In his  theory, the lowest unsatisfied need is
Herzberg’s two-factor theory.  the most significant need and individuals seek
ahigher need when lower needs are fulfilled. 
The main process theories are Skinner’s Maslow's hierarchy of needs is always
reinforcement theory, Victor Vroom's expectancy shown in the shape of a pyramid where
theory, Adam’s equity theory, and Lock’s goal- physiological needs are at the bottom of the
setting theory (Figure 1).  pyramid and the need for self-actualization is at
the top.
No single motivation theory explains all
aspects of people’s motives or lack of motives.
Each theoretical explanation can serve as the
basis for the development of techniques for
motivation. basis for the development of
techniques for motivation. 
 Esteem means being valued, respected, and
appreciated by others. People need to feel
significant, useful or valued by others. People
with low self-esteem often need respect from
others. 

5. Self-actualization (an individual’s

desire to grow and develop to his or
her fullest potential) What humans
can be, they must be. (Maslow, 1954) 

Self-actualization reflects an individual’s desire

to grow and develop to his/her fullest
potential. Maslow described this level as the need
to accomplish everything that one can, to become
the most that one can be. Maslow believed that
people must overcome their other needs  “
Exhibit described above -, not only achieve them.
5.2  However as one satisfies one level, people will
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs crave  to satisfy the next level in the hierarchy
(Source: Author's own figure)  and the next higher level, and so on and so forth. 

1. Physiological needs (e.g. food, water, shelter, Alderfer ERG theory: Existence needs,
sleep)  relatedness needs, and growth needs 
Physiological needs are the most basic needs
of humans to survive like water, air, and food. According to Alderfer (Furnham, 2008) there
Maslow emphasized that our body and mind are three classes of needs: existence,
cannot function well if these needs are not relatedness, and growth. Maslow’s physiological
satisfied.  A person who lacks food, safety, love and safety needs belong together to existence
(also sex), and esteem, would most probably needs. Relatedness can be harmonized with the
hunger for food (and also for money, salary to buy belongingness and esteem of others. Growth is 
food) than for anything else.  the same as Maslow’s self-esteem and self-
actualization. Both Maslow and Alderfer tried to
2. Safety and security (secure source of income, describe how these needs, are more or less
a place to live, health and well-being) If the important to individuals. 
physiological needs are relatively well contented,
new needs will appear, the so-called safety Existence Needs 
needs. Safety needs refer to a person’s desire These Include all material and physiological
for security or protection. In reality, in real desires (e.g., food, water, air, clothing, safety,
dangers and traumas “ like war, murder, natural physical love, and affection). Maslow's first two
catastrophes, criminal assault, etc. -, the need for levels. 
safety becomes an active, first-line, and
dominant mobilizer of human beings. 
Relatedness Needs 
Encompass social and external esteem;
3. Belongingness and love (integration into social
relationships with significant others like family,
groups, feeling part of a community or a group;
friends, co-workers, and employers. This also
affectionate relationships) When both the
means being recognized and feeling secure as
physiological and the safety needs are fulfilled,
part of a group or family. Maslow's third and
the affection, love, and belongingness need
fourth levels. 
come next. Maslow claimed people need to
belong and be accepted among their social
Growth Needs 
groups. 
Internal esteem and self-actualization; impel a
person to make creative or productive effects  on
4. Esteem (respect for a person as a useful,
himself and the environment (e.g., to progress
honorable human being) 
toward one's ideal self). Maslow's fourth and  fifth
levels. This includes desires to be creative and motivation have a strong need for friendships
productive and to complete meaningful tasks.  and want to belong within a social group, need to
be liked and held in popular regard. They are
Alderfer agreed with Maslow that unsatisfied team players, and they may be less effective in
needs motivate individuals. Alderfer also agreed  leadership positions. High-need-for-affiliation
that individuals generally move up the hierarchy persons mostly have warm interpersonal
in satisfying their needs; that is, they satisfy  relationships. 
lower-order before higher-order needs. As lower-
order needs are satisfied, they become less  3. Power 
important, but Alderfer also said: that as higher- Power motivation is a need to control one’s own
order needs are satisfied they become more  work or the work of others. These people have  a
important. And it is also said that under some strong need to lead and succeed in their ideas.
circumstances individuals might return to a lower Persons with this type would like to control and 
need. Alderfer thought that individuals multiply influence others. McClelland argues that with a
the efforts invested in a lower category need strong need for achievement people can become 
when higher categorized needs are not the best leaders. The problem with this type of
consequent.  people is that they expect the other people
around 
them to be as achievement-focused and result-
McClelland Need for achievement, affiliation, driven as they are. 
and power 
In the early 1960s, David McClelland built on Herzberg Two factor theory 
Maslow’s work described three human Herzberg’s Two Factor theory is also called
motivators. McClelland (Arnold et al., 2005) the motivation-hygiene theory. This theory says 
claimed that humans acquire, and learn their  thatthere are factors (motivating factors) that
motivators over time that is the reason why this cause job satisfaction, and motivation and some 
theory is sometimes called the Learned Needs  other also separated factors (hygiene factors)
Theory. He concurred that people have three cause dissatisfaction (Exhibit 5.3). That means
motivating drivers, and it does not depend on our  that these feelings of satisfaction and
gender or age. One of these drives or needs will dissatisfaction with these factors are not opposite
be dominant in our behaviour and this depends  of each other, as it has always previously been
on our culture and life experiences. Although believed. The opposite therefore of satisfaction is
each person has all of these needs to some not dissatisfaction, but rather, no satisfaction.
extent,  only one of them tends to motivate an According to Herzberg (1987) job, satisfiers deal
individual at any given time and whichever this with  the factors involved in doing the job,
needs is  would characterize his or her behavior. whereas job dissatisfiers deal with the factors
This in turn results in diversified behavior of which define the job context. 
employees.
These three motivators are: 
1. Achievement 
Achievement motivation refers to a person’s need
for success or mastery of skills and is related to a
range of actions. Individuals seek the
achievement of challenging goals and furtherance
in  their job. Individuals with a high need for
achievement like to receive regular feedback on
their  progress and achievements; and often like Exhibit 5.3 Herzberg’s view of satisfaction
to work alone; seek challenges and like a high and dissatisfaction
degree  of independence. Sources of high need
for achievement can be: getting praise for According to Herzberg’s there are five factors
success, goal setting skills, one’s own of job satisfaction (motivating factors) which are 
competence and effort to achieve something,  the only factors that can motivate. Likewise, there
are also five factors of job dissatisfaction that we
2. Affiliation  need to achieve more efficient work. These are
Affiliation motivation is the need for love, shown in the table below: 
belonging and relatedness. People with affiliation
 Factors of Job Factors of Job Safety and
Satisfaction  Dissatisfaction Security 

achievement  company policy and Belonging Relatedn Need for

administration ness and ess  Affiliation
love 
recognition  supervision
Self- Growth Need for Motivat
work itself  salary esteem power ors

responsibility  interpersonal Self- Need for

relationships actualizati achieve
on  ment
advancement  working conditions
Exhibit 5.4 Factors of Job Satisfaction and
Dissatisfaction Skinner's reinforcement theory 
Behavior can be formed by its consequences
Hygiene factors are needed to ensure that an (Gordon, 1987) according to Skinner’s operant
employee is not dissatisfied. Motivation factors  conditioning theory. Positive reinforcements, for
are needed to ensure employee's satisfaction and example, verbal praise, appreciation, extra
to motivate an employee to higher performance.  vacation days, stock options, or any other reward
can increase the possibility that the rewarded
behaviour will happen again. Positive verbal
feedback and high grade on examinations that a
student receives will encourage the recurrence of
the behavior that caused the rewards. Negative  
reinforcement occurs for example when we try
to reduce stress by altering employeehours. In 
this case, altering employee hours is negative
reinforcement because it reduces the unpleasant 
state (state). Contrary to positive and negative
reinforcement, punishment can be undesired
reinforcement, or reinforce undesired behaviour. 
The reinforcement theory is included in many
other motivation theories. The reward must meet
Exhibit 5.5 The someone's needs, expectations must be applied
Motivating and equitably, and must be consistent. The desired
Hygience Factors behaviour must be clear and realistic, but the
issue remains: which reinforcements are suitable
and for which person? 
Hygiene factors are needed to ensure that an
employee is not dissatisfied. Motivationfactors  Vroom's expectancy theory 
are needed to ensure employee satisfaction and The expectancy theory places an emphasis
to motivate an employee to higher performance. on the process and on the content of motivation
as well, and it integrates needs, equity, and
Exhibit reinforcement theories. 
5.6  Victor Vroom's (1964) expectancy theory
Summary of Content Theories of aims to explain how people choose from the
Motivation (Source: Author's own table)  available actions. Vroom defines motivation as a
Maslow  Alderfer  McClella Herzbe process that governs our choices among
nd  rg alternative forms of voluntary behaviour. The
basic rationale of this theory is that motivation
Physiologi Existence Hygien comes from the belief that decisions will have
cal e their desired outcomes. 
 The motivation to engage in an activity is
determined by appraising three factors. These
three factors are the following (Figure 4): 
• Expectancy – a person’s belief that more
effort will result in success. This means that
better performance will result if someone works
harder. 
• Instrumentality – the person’s belief that
there is a connection between activity and goal.
If you perform well, you will get a reward. 
• Valence – the degree to which a person
values the reward, the results of success. The
expectancy theory highlights individual
differences in motivation and contains three Exhibit
useful factors for understanding and increasing 5.7 
motivation. This theory implies equity and the  Examples of the inputs and
importance of consistent rewards as well (Konig & outcomes in the equity theory 
Steel 2006).  (Source: Author's
The theory suggests that although individuals own figure) 
may have different sets of goals, they can be
motivated if they believe that: When inequity exists, a person might… 
1. There is a positive correlation between • reduce his/her inputs, efforts, quantity, or
efforts and performance,  quality of his/her work 
2. Favorable performance will result in a • try to increase his/her outputs 
desirable reward,  • adjust his/her perception of
3. The reward will satisfy an important need,  the reference person or his/her
4. The desire to satisfy the need is strong outcomes or inputs • change
enough to make the effort worthwhile.  the reference person 
• quit the situation.
Locke's goal-setting theory 
Adams' equity theory  Locke's (1990) goal setting theory is an
The equity theory states that people are integrative model of motivation just like the
motivated if they are treated equitably, and expectancy theory. 
receive what they consider fair for their effort and It emphasizes that setting specific,
costs.  challenging performance goals and the
The theory was suggested by Adams commitment to  these goals are key
(1965) and is based on the Social Exchange determinants of motivation. Goals
theory. According to this theory, people describe the desired future, and these
compare their contribution to work, the costs established goals can drive the behaviour.
of  their actions, and the benefits that will Achieving the goals, the goal
result from the contribution and benefits of accomplishment further motivates
the  reference person. If people perceive that individuals to perform. Goals should be
the ratio of their inputs-outputs to the ratio of  specific so they  can be measured,
referent other's input-output is inequitable, challenging so they would be more
then they will be motivated to reduce the  motivational, and should require
inequity workers put inputs into the job, such involvement so it would be accepted. 
as education, experience, effort, energy, and  The following guidelines have been useful
expectto get some outcomes such as salary, in the goal-setting: 
reward, promotion, verbal recognition, and • Set challenging but attainable goals. 
interesting and challenging work each in • Set specific and measurable goals. 
equal amounts (Figure 6).  • Goal commitment should be obtained. 
• Support elements should be provided. 
• Knowledge of results is essential 
 who create the vision are an elite
class. 

3. Alienation from themselves. 

By nature, people want to be
creative and then implement those
ideas. This type of alienation
happens when people cannot
maintain that part of their
humanity; they feel as though they
cannot be themselves. They may
Exhibit even begin to feel like they are not
5.8  human. 
Locke's goal-
setting theory  4. Alienation from others. 
This type of alienation tends to
happen when workers specialize
Alienation at work  in a small piece of a larger whole.
Alienation in the workplace happens While it may be good for
when a worker can express individuality only employees to have a specialty,
when they are producing work. Feelings of these employees begin to feel like
alienation can happen without the employee or they are in a thankless job, and
employer even realizing it. When they lose their they also may feel like they're
independence and become just another part of a missing out on bonding with
bigger picture they feel emotionally separated others. 
from others and this is when they feel alienated.
When they begin to have this feeling from
managers, co-workers, and peers, they feel like HOW EMPLOYEES FEEL ALIENATION 
they are just objects of the organization. As a There are many ways companies alienate
consequence, since they do not feel appreciated employees, sometimes without even realizing it.
and are not needed in their jobs, they lose their That's  why it's important to pay attention to the
loyalty to their company and are eager to look for signs your employees are giving you. Here are
other jobs.  some ways you may be alienating your
employees 
Types of Alienation 
1. Alienation from production.  1. Keeping them in the dark. 
This type of alienation happens 2. Not asking for their input. 
when the worker does not see 3. Keeping them boxed in. 
the final product they produce; 4. Ignoring their goals. 
rather, they focus only on a piece 5. Working them too hard. 
of what they are producing. As a 6. Playing favorites. Instead. 
The result, workers don't understand what role 7. Not valuing them.
they play in the entire process. 

2. Alienation from the act of

production.  Creating a motivating work setting 
This happens when an employee To some extent, a high level of employee
is only given a set of instructions motivation is derived from effective management 
to complete; they do not get the practices. To develop motivated employees, a
instructions for the entire process. manager must treat people as individuals, 
The employee never has a role in empower workers, provide an effective reward
the whole vision or planning, and system, redesign jobs, and create a flexible
they are made to feel that those workplace. 
1. Empowering employees 
 Empowerment is based on the idea that increased variety of tasks but also provides
providing employees with the resources, an employee with more responsibility and
authority, opportunity, and motivation to authority. If the skills required to do the job
do their work, as well as holding them are skills that match the jobholder's abilities,
accountable for their actions, will make job enrichment may improve morale and
employees happier and more proficient. performance. 
Empowering employees through the use
of resources, extending authority, Job Characteristics Model (JCM) by Hackman
providing opportunities, and creating an and Oldham 
environment with a sense of ownership
and responsibility will make employees According to The Job Characteristics Model, the
motivated.  presence of five core job dimensions ensures
three psychological states. These psychological
2. Providing an effective reward system  states in turn influence desirable work outcomes 
Studies have shown that employees are like quality of work, job satisfaction, etc. Below is
ultimately motivated by two goals, earning the Job Characteristic Model as presented by
money  and being fulfilled within their job. Hackman and Oldham..
By putting an effective employee reward
system both  extrinsic and intrinsic in
place to increase motivation, you are
making sure that they deserve to earn the
rewards for their hard work, and in turn,
you will have no problem with their
performance. 

3. Redesigning jobs 
The concept of job redesign, which requires a
knowledge of and concern for the human
qualities people bring with them to the
organization, applies motivational theories to the
structure of work for improving productivity and
satisfaction. When redesigning jobs, managers
look at both job scope and job depth. 
Exhibit
5.9 
Redesign attempts may include the following: 
JCM by Hackman and Oldham 
● Job enlargement. Often referred to as horizontal
job loading, job enlargement increases the
variety of tasks a job includes. Although it The critical Psychological States 
doesn't increase the quality or the challenge  The five core job dimensions stated below result
of those tasks, job enlargement may reduce in three different psychological states. 1.
some of the monotony, and as anemployee's Experienced meaningfulness of the work: The
boredom decreases, his or her work quality extent to which people believe that their job is
generally increases.  meaningful and that their work is valued and
appreciated. 
● Job rotation. This practice assigns people to
different jobs or tasks to different people on a 2. Experienced responsibility for the
temporary basis. The idea is to add variety outcomes of work: The extent to which
and to expose people to the dependence that people feel accountable for the results of
one job has on other jobs. Job rotation can their work, and for the outcomes they have
encourage higher levels of contributions and produced. 
renew interest and enthusiasm. The
organization benefits from a cross-trained 3. Knowledge of the actual results of the work
workforce.  activity: The extent to which people know
how well they are doing. 
● Job enrichment. Also called vertical job loading,
this application includes not only an Core Job Dimensions 
1. Skill variety: This refers to the range of
skills and activities necessary to
complete the job. 

2. Task identity: This dimension

measures the degree to which the
job requires completion of a whole
and identifiable piece of work.
3. Task significance: This looks at the
impact and influence of a job. 

4. Autonomy: This describes the amount

of individual choice and discretion
involved in a job. 

5. Feedback: This dimension measures

the amount of information an
employee receives about his or her
performance, and the extent to which
he or she can see the impact of the
work.